If you knew what I am, would you still love me?
by Nocturnal Shinobi
Summary: It is said long ago that demons and humans shall never love one another. A demon that lives in a mountain next to a big city begins to fall in love with a high school girl that lives in the city. And the girl begins to fall for him too. Can heaven allow this? Inspired by the movie 'The Sorcerer and the White Snake'.
1. Chapter 1

**My dad showed me a movie the other day called 'The Sorcerer And The White Snake'. I heard the story 'Madame White Snake' when I was little so this movie was a thrilling blast from the past. This story is inspired by it. With, of course, Naruto characters. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The characters and storyline belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

It is a warm spring evening in Akuma no Yama (Demon Mountain). The fox-demon by the name Naruto hums a tune as he cleans up his shrine. He had a lot of fun today hanging with his best friend the snake-demon Sasuke. They are practically family. They had known each other for nearly three hundred and fifty years. Being demons they can live much longer than humans and are considered still young by other demons.

They first met when Naruto went foraging when he saw the snake causing trouble at the city next to the mountain. Naruto kindly took him in and helped change Sasuke's ways for the better. They eventually became brothers despite one being a snake and a fox.

Their home on Akuma no Yama is very wooded and their are no other demons living on the mountain. The reason for this is that the mountain is next to a city. The other demons try to stay away from humans. Naruto on the other hand has no problem. In fact, he's fascinated by them.

Naruto finishes his cleaning then exits his home. His routine is to go to a high spot on the the mountain and look at the city lights next to a flowing river to relax. The bright and colorful lights mesmerizes him He is too captivated by them. The snake slithers in but the kitsune barely notices.

Sasuke stays low to the ground as he eyes at his victim then pounces at the opportunity. "BOO!"

"AHH!" The fox jumps with his fur standing straight. The serpent laughs heartily. "Damn it, Teme! I hate it when you do that."

Sasuke regains his composure only to get headbutted by Naruto. "Agh! Awright, awright. I get it." He once again regains his composure. "Looking out at the city as always?"

Naruto returns his gaze to the beautiful lights. "Yeah..." He looks down at his feet and thinks of what to say. "Have you ever wondered what humans are like?"

Sasuke rubs his chin with his tail as he thinks. "Nah. Not really. What for?"

The kitsune sighs. "Just because. I mean, we can assume a human form and no one will know what we are. Why not see?"

"Because the elder demons don't allow it. They don't wan't any trouble to happen, they say." He rests on a smooth, weathered rock. "They say it's too risky. And you know they're right."

"Yeah. Old bastards are raising my curiosity though." Naruto says with anger.

The serpent is the first to realize that the sun is gone. The fox is too absorbed in the city lights. "Hey. It's getting late. Come on, let's get some rest."

Naruto inhales deeply to take in the atmosphere on last time then exhales. "Awright." With that said, the two head home.

_...:::::_

Four high school students are spending their Friday night in a mountain forest. Four girls in a mountain. It's dark, it's creepy, and it was totally a dare.

"Come on, Hinata! I heard this mountain has demons on it." the girl with long blonde hair says. She's Yamanaka Ino, school drama queen and royal gossiper.

"D...demons? Don't you mess with my mind, Ino. The forest is scary enough." the girl with long black hair says shuddering. Hyuuga Hinata, the school's most innocent girl.

"Calm down. You know she's messing with you." the girl with her hair in buns says. This girl is Tenten, Chinese descent but was born and raised in Japan.

"I still don't know why we're doing this." the pink haired girl complains. The final girl is Haruno Sakura. She is the school's most sought after bachelorette. Oddly enough she's never had a boyfriend so every boy in school is after the position as her first.

Ino turns back. "Because when we go back to school we can say that we entered then came out of Akuma no Yama alive. No one will set foot on this mountain because of their superstitions. It'll be easy."

Sakura just sighs as her mind drifts away in thoughts of romance. She romanticizes about if she will ever meet the 'one' for her. You know, the one at the other end of the red thread. Who is he like? Is he like me? Do I know him? The questions can go on. She just doesn't want to go through boy after boy searching for him like Ino does. She wants her first to be 'it'. She always thinks that it's the most romantic way to have a relationship.

But she can't think about right now. It's just not the place. She shines her flashlight around her to see nothing but trees and wilderness around her. The other girls are nowhere in sight. "Oh no." she says to herself. They left her in the dark, creepy forest alone! Her heart and mind begins to race. She doesn't remember the way out of the forest. She decides to follow where she thinks they might have went hoping to find them.

She shines her flashlight in front of her to light up her path. Little did she know that her flash light attracted someone's attention.

_...::::_

Naruto is headed for his home when a bright light got in his eyes. At first he ignored it, but now the light was getting brighter. And closer. He starts to get worried and curious. His brain told him to go away from the light but his curious heart begged him to stay and see what it was.

He gave into his curiosity and hid on top of a tree as an observation point. He looks at the approaching light to see what it is. As the light got closer he could see a figure appear in the darkness around it. He then saw a silhouette of a human holding a short stick that makes light that they call 'flashlights'. With his enhanced night vision he can now see that it was a female human with pink hair. He stayed silent so he can hear if anything happens.

The flashlight begins to flicker. Then the light goes out. She flicks the black slide up and down then throws it to the ground in frustration. "Stupid batteries." she says. She then sits next to the trunk of a tree, puts her knees close to her chest then closes her eyes. Naruto can feel that she is scared of the dark.

A feeling deep in his heart wants to help her but he knows the risks. He then remembers that demons can take a human form. He gets off the tree and looks for a secluded spot to take form in.

_...::::_

Sakura is now terrified. She's alone, her flashlight ran out of batteries, and she's afraid of the dark. "'It'll be easy', she said. I knew I shouldn't have came."

She then opens her eyes and sees a faint light to her left. She gets a feeling of hope as the dim light gets closer. "I know someone's there. I won't hurt you."

Sakura notices that it was a boy. And he sounds young, like teenager young. She gets up and walks towards the light. "I'm here! Don't go! I need help!" As she gets closer she sees that the lantern-wielding boy was a blond boy, no older than she is, with an orange yukata, and he has line mark across his cheeks. She had to admit, he was cute. When she got to him she feels a rush of relief. "I got lost and I can't find my friends. Have you seen them? They went off without me."

He chuckles. "Some friends ya got then." She chuckles at his joke. "And about your friends, I haven't seen anyone."

She looks down. "Oh. Well then, do you have any idea where they could be or be headed to?"

The boy barely even had to think. "I have one guess. I live in a shrine near here. They are sure to run into it or at least pass it."

Sakura's hope returns. "Great! Can you take me there?" She puts her hands together as if she's begging.

The boy sighs. "Awright. But it's easy to get lost in this forest." He puts his hand out. "Hold my hand so we won't get separated."

"Okay" She reaches for the hand and grabs it. Her eyes widen as a surge of warmth engulfs her body. She then shrugs it off and proceeds to move as he does.

A few minutes of trekking later the reach a medium sized shrine with lanterns hung around it. "Here we are. It's not much, but they are sure to notice the lanterns at night."

She looks at the shrine in amazement. It was beautiful and very well kept and clean. "You live here?"

His eyes widen. "What? Is there something wrong with it? Did I mess up somewhere?" He says with a terrified expression.

"No! No! I meant that this home of your's is gorgeous!"

He sighs in relief. "Oh. Why thank you. It doesn't get much visitors."

"So, does it get lonely up here?"

The boy just looks at the night sky. "Nah, not really. I have a friend that I visit everyday. But, he likes his privacy so I'm not gonna tell ya where he lives. I don't want you getting into any trouble with him."

Sakura realizes that she didn't even introduce herself yet. "Oh, by the way. I'm Haruno Sakura." she says as she extends her hand out for a handshake.

The boy notices their first formal greeting. "You can call me Naruto." He reaches out and grabs her hand. Sakura feels another surge of warmth flow through her. "Ya'know, we should wait inside." Naruto gestures his hands for her to enter.

"Okay." she accepts his offer. They enter and she sits on the traditional Japanese furniture. Naruto brings back tea and joins her at the table. "So how do you keep this shrine so well kept? I know I couldn't do it alone."

"I do it alone. Though it would be nice to have more people around." He sips his tea then sets it down. "So what are you and your friends doing on Akuma no Yama? You're not doing any harm, are ya?"

"Oh, no! Some kids at our school dared us to come to this mountain because of some legend of a demon that lives here."

Naruto flinches. "Oh really? So what's the demon like?"

Sakura puts her hand on her lap. "I don't know. It's just a legend. I don't believe it."

Naruto sighs. "Well what are your friends like?"

She rests her head on her knuckles as she tries to think of how to put it. "Well there's three of them. Ino, Hinata, and Tenten. They all need a _g__ood_ boyfriend. They always complain about their boyfriend or that they need one."

"And how about you? Do you need one, too?" he say teasingly.

She starts to work up a temper. "No! I don't! I will never go and have a relationship with more than one guy! I want my first to be _it_!" She starts to cool down. "I mean, I've had many guys come to me wanting to be with me in a relationship. But I honestly don't know what they see in me."

"Well I think you're very pretty." Naruto compliments.

Sakura is now blushing very hard. This very cute boy in front of her just called her pretty! She knew she was attractive but for the compliment to be coming from him almost felt surreal. Is she actually developing feelings for this boy she just met? "Oh, you're such a flatterer." She tries to shake the blush away. "So how about you? You're handsome. Don't you have a girlfriend?"

She notices his face redden in response to her question. She giggles at his very surprised face. "Uumhh... I do not." He avoids making eye contact for he is embarrassed.

"That's... actually very surprising. I'm very certain that if you were to go into the city that you'd have girls blush at you as you walk by."

He switches his gaze from the floor to her eyes. "Am I really _that_ good looking?"

Her face relaxes. "I think so." They both share a smile when they see flashlights shining in the distance. "That could be them. Let's wait here to make sure."

"Forehead! Where are you!" a girl holding a flashlight cries.

Sakura, immediately recognizing her nickname, knows that it's the other girls. "Yep. That's them. 'Forehead' is my nickname."

Naruto raises an eyebrow. "Why do they call you that?"

She points at her forehead. "Because of my large forehead."

He scoffs. "Large? I think you have a cute forehead."

Her heart skips a beat. Her forehead... cute? No one has ever said anything like that about her forehead. It's now safe to say that this boy is one hell of of a charmer. She actually kinda likes him. She stands up and waves her hands for their attention. "Hey, guys! I'm over here!"

The three lights are immediately facing towards the yelling. "Sakura-san, where did you go? We were so worried." Hinata says.

She gets mad. "You guys are the ones that left me!" She then regains her composure. "But the caretaker of this shrine helped me."

Ino walks up. "Is that so?" She faces towards the shrine. "Hey, old man! Can ya come out so we can thank you!"

Naruto steps out of the shadows of the shrine. "Is that a new stereotype or something. I don't think I'm that old."

Ino's eyes widen as she witnesses the young blonde man in the the yukata. "That 'hunk' helped you? Sakura, I'm so jealous!" She elbows Sakura in the arm. "So... do you two do any, like, ... 'bonding' while you waited for us?" Ino had a mischievous look on her face.

Sakura puts an annoyed looked to combat it. "No. We just talked and waited for you. He's a very nice guy." She turns to Naruto. "Well I have to leave now. See ya, Naruto!" She waves goodbye and her friends all walked towards the city.

He lets them take a few steps. "Nice meeting you, ... Sakura-chan!" She blushes once more as he adds the suffix to her name. She now considers him as her friend.

_...::::_

Naruto waits until they are out of his sight. He then falls to his knees and holds his hands to his chest. "What is this feeling in my heart?" He feels as if his heart aches. He has never felt it before.

There was only one thing that can explain this. He has fallen in love with a human girl. "I must see her again." He collects himself and holds a fist to show his determination. "Tomorrow, I will go find her..." He hesitates to say the next part but his wavering heart is just too strong for him to fight. "... in the city."

**So how was it? Was it good or did it need some... more... , I don't know,... help? Leave in the reviews of what you thought of it and also feel free to give requests for new stories. This story won't be updated often, but I will finish it. This is going to be my story if I have nothing else to write about or write on my free time. Review! 再見 -Noshi**


	2. Chapter 2

**Second chapter is here! Naruto has made his choice to defy the elder demons and go into the city to search for Sakura. What surprises are in store for Naruto? **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The characters and storyline belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

Naruto wakes up extra early for his trip to the city. Today, his thirst of curiosity of how humans live will be quenched. But more importantly to him, he must find his beloved Sakura.

But an obstacle gets in his way. He doesn't know how the humans dressed. He noticed last night that Sakura and his fashion senses were worlds apart. If he entered the city he might stick out like a sore thumb and it might make it harder for him to find her. But he doesn't know what the modern human male wears in the city. But he knows someone who might know.

He runs to his serpent friend's shrine on the opposite side of the mountain. It takes him a good bit of time, but it was for the sake of love. When he reaches the shrine he catches his breath. He inhales deeply then, "SASUKE! Wake up! I need your help!"

Out of the shadows the snake slithers out, still not fully awake. Sasuke shakes his head to try to make his vision come back. Being a snake however don't give him the best eyesight. "Wh... wha-? Dobe?" He swings his head left and right to look for Naruto. "Where are you?"

Naruto uses his human fingers to poke the snake at his sensitive underside. "I'm down here, Teme."

"Huh?" He looks down to see the blonde. "Oh! You're in human form. I haven't seen this part of you for, like, two hundred years!" He lets out a long yawn. "So. You said you need help or something?"

"Yes. I need modern human clothing." Naruto gets right to the point without hesitating or mincing words.

The snake demon then takes his human form to make it easier to look at eye level. He is now a young, handsome boy with black hair only about the same age as Naruto. "And what makes you think I can help?"

Naruto crosses his arms. "Don't play dumb! I see you take this form many times before so you can sneak into the city. I just didn't tell you that I knew."

Sasuke's eyes opened widely as his embarrassment increased. "You knew?" Naruto nods. "Aww! There goes my secret." He shakes his embarrassment away. "So let me guess. You need clothes so _you _can go into the city. Am I right?"

Naruto sighs then admits it. "Yes. I want to look for... something."

Sasuke waves his hand as permission to enter the shrine. He leads Naruto to his closet. He sorts the human clothing and picks out the ones that look more modern while Naruto sits on the floor. "I hope you don't mind if I ask, but, what exactly are you looking for?"

"Well it's more like a _someone_ than a something." He works up the nerve to admit it. "I want to look for a girl."

Sasuke continues unphased by Naruto's answer. "That girl isn't one of the four girls I caught hiking down the mountain last night, would it?"

Naruto is shocked. "You met them too?"

"No. I just saw them and avoided them. That blonde one looked nice."

Naruto looks a at his fingers."Well I'm not looking for the blonde one. It's the pink-haired one I'm after." He pauses for a moment. "I think I've fallen in love with her."

Sasuke stop dead in his tracks. It was all making sense to him now. "And you need clothes so you can enter the city without any unwanted attention. Correct?"

Naruto looks down. "Yeah." Naruto feels shame for being unable to keep his own secrets and for being too readable. "So do you have the clothes?"

"Yeah, but I'll let you pick what you want to wear." Naruto stands up and looks at his selection that Sasuke laid out.

He immediately finds a good pair of black pants and an orange t-shirt that matched his fur color. He heads to the changing area and dons his new set of clothing. He finds it to be pretty comfortable but he likes his fur better. He exits the changing area. "What do ya think?"

"It's nice. It kinda suits you." Then the snake in human form remembers something. "Wait. Isn't this your first time going into the city?"

"Yeah, so?" Naruto says while getting used to his clothes.

"Then I better come with you. You don't know your way around in that place. Plus, you don't have money."

Naruto thinks over for a few second. "Awright. But then can you help me find her?"

"Fine. Just gimme a minute or two to get ready." He grabs some of the clothes he laid out.

Naruto turns around. "Come outside when you're ready. I'll wait." Naruto walks out of the shrine to wait for his city guide to get ready.

Three minutes later, the raven haired boy walks out of the shrine yawning. He wears a white t-shirt and dark-blue jeans. "Are you ready?" Sasuke asks.

"More than ever." They begin walking towards the city.

About a forty-five minutes later they are nearly at the end of the mountain. "So... who exactly is this girl?" Sasuke asks.

Naruto thinks of where to begin. "Well... her name is Haruno Sakura. That name suits her pretty well because she has pink hair."

"Pink hair? I've never seen that before." He seems very surprised that the humans can have such color hair.

Naruto, with a half-full glass attitude, sees an advantage in her hair color. "Shouldn't that make it easier to find her then?"

Sasuke chuckles. "Yeah, good point."

Naruto seems to recall Sasuke saying that he thinks the blonde looked nice. "So... I heard you say that you fancy the blonde one."

Sasuke rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah, so? Ya know her name? I'd like to meet her."

"Don't know her name. But last night Sakura-chan and I sat and talked at my shrine. She said that her friend's names are Ino, Hinata, and Tenten. I don't know who's who, though. Sorry."

Sasuke stops walking. It's almost like he's paralyzed. "Oh I see what happened."

Naruto looks back. Does the snake know something that he doesn't? "What?"

Sasuke puts a finger up. "When you've allowed a woman into your home, you've allowed her into your heart. That's what the elders said! You let that Sakura into your shrine and now you're in love with her!"

Naruto does recall them saying that. So now he realizes that his act of helping her and leading her to his shrine also led him to his soul mate. But Naruto doesn't care. "That doesn't matter. Even if it's true, I still have to see her again." Naruto continues down the mountain and Sasuke follows.

_...::::_

Sakura is sitting in her room. She tries to study her physics but her mind is all clouded since last night. She can't even admit to herself that she has a crush on Naruto. It's just absurd. She just met him last night and she already feels her heart waver every time she says his name.

But she fears that her love for him may be one-sided. She wants to be with him but what if he doesn't have the same interest in her back? The more she thinks about it the more her heart yearns to be with him.

She gets out of her seat and packs a bag with some water, some bandages, a flashlight with fresh batteries, and a snack. She intends to pay Naruto a visit to satisfy her heart's hunger to be with Naruto. She pulls out her phone and texts Ino that she won't be at her house and that she's going to go see Naruto.

She slings the bag over her shoulder and walks to the front door. But before she could touch the doorknob her mother calls to her. "Sakura? Where are you going?"

Sakura realizes that she never told her parents about Naruto yet. "I'm going to visit my friend. I met him yesterday when me and my friends were in the mountain. He helped me when I got lost in the forest. If it wasn't for him, I'd probably still be in the forest."

Her mother rolls her sleeve up then crosses her arms. "And where does he live?"

Sakura grows nervous and looks down in defeat. "He... he lives... in... in a shrine on the mountain."

Sakura's mother looks surprised. "That shrine in the mountain?"

Sakura's eyebrow go up. "You know about that shrine?"

The older woman smiles as she recalls her past. "I heard that shrine was home to a demon when I was your age. Now, I never believed in demons but I never went close to that shrine just in case." She turns around. "But since you know the way there, I'm okay with you visiting him."

"Oh, thank you, Mom!" She grabs the doorknob and turns it. "I'll be back for dinner."

"Tell us how he's like when you get back!" the mother says before Sakura closes the door.

Sakura locks the door and, without a second thought, heads to the mountain.

_...::::_

Naruto and Sasuke are in the city. It's crowded, it's bustling, and there is no sign of pink hair. "Teme, we should split up. It'll be faster that way."

Sasuke thumbs up. "Okay. If I find her, I'll contact you through telepathy."

The fox in disguise nods 'yes' and the two splits off.

Naruto, funny to say this, 'snakes' his way through the crowd while keeping his eye's peeled for pink hair. His stubborn spirit won't allow his mind and body to give up the search.

As he walks around he notices that he has eyes on him. Especially from the females. As he walk by the young women, they would blush and giggle. Sakura was right. But he wanted to be modest, he's not _that_ handsome. But he didn't let that get in the way of his objective.

He spots a group of eight boys that seem about Sakura's age. The boys are sitting under or in a tree in park in the shade.

Naruto approaches the eight boys. "Excuse me. May I ask you men something?"

The boy laying on a branch with the ponytail sits up. "Hey, man. *yawn* What is it?" He pokes at the chubby one.

"This guy wants us to answer a question."

Naruto butts in. "Yes I'd like to know if you know where Haruno Sakura is." He avoids the suffix to avoid unneeded attention.

The instant Sakura's name was mentioned, nearly all of the boys look at him. "And what business do you have with Sakura-san?" one of the boys stands up and gets in Naruto's personal space. It's obvious that he wants trouble. Sakura did say that she had admirers that wanted her but got rejected. This must be one of them. He had thick-as-hell eyebrows and was far from intimidating. But Naruto doesn't want any trouble. He had to find a way away from this guy. He just steps back.

Naruto walks around him and goes to the others that are still sitting. "Does anyone have an answer for me? If not, I'll leave you as if I was never here."

The ponytail headed one, obviously the most straightforward one, says "Sorry, man. We know nothing." he rubs his chin. "Wait a minute. I've never seen you at our school before. How do you know who Haruno Sakura is?"

Naruto quickly thinks of a way out of answering that question. "If you don't know anything, I'll leave." He turns around to have the boy with the bushy eyebrows in his space once more.

"Yeah, how _do_ you know her?" Naruto gets beyond nervous at answering that question.

_...::::_

Sakura was about to pass the park when something caught the corner of her left eye. Blonde hair. She looks to her left to see that the blonde was... Naruto! And he wasn't wearing his yukata. The clothes kind of suited him. It was clear that he was in an uncomfortable situation. She walks towards them and sees the boy that is giving Naruto a hard time. Lee. He was the most annoying boy out of all the men that want to go out with her. She had to help Naruto get away from them.

She is now three meters from Naruto and Lee. "Naruto? What are you doing here? I was headed to your shrine."

Lee springs to Sakura and hold her hands. "Sakura-san! Will you please date me?"

Sakura pulls her hands out and gives Lee a push. "Lee. For the last time. No." The boy slumps down as he walks back to his spot under the tree.

The ponytail boy is rubbing his chin again. "Naruto..., shrine..., ...Sakura treats him as a friend. What's going on here?" The other boys are wondering the same thing.

Sakura turns to them. "Um, this is my friend, Naruto-san. He helped me when I got lost in the mountain last night. Ya know, from the dare and all."

The boy that had his dog with him pointed. "Oh, yeah! I heard about you getting lost in the mountain. It was in Ino's blog last night."

Sakura got really mad. Ino's gonna get it when she finds her. But she shifts her gaze to Naruto and signals him to walk with her. Naruto just accepts and strolls alongside her. He hears one of the boys. "Looks like you've got some really good competition, Lee."

Sakura starts off the conversation. "So, Naruto. What are you doing here?"

"Actually, I'm came here to visit you and to see the city. It's actually my first time in here, actually." Her heart skips. Did he just say he came to see her? This made her feel warm. It gave her hope that these feelings aren't one-sided.

"Funny. I was on my way to visit you at the shrine." she says patting her bag that is still slung over her shoulder. "Wait. This is your first time in the city?"

Naruto puts a smile on. "Yep!" His stomach rumbles. "Hehe. Excuse me. I haven't eaten anything this morning." He says with his hand rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

She just giggles. "That's alright. I haven't eaten anything either. Where do you want to eat?"

"I don't know. I'm still new to the city."

She sees an opportunity to eat out with him. It could almost be counted as a date! "Well, there's a good ramen restaurant close by. Wanna try it?"

"Sure! I haven't tried 'city food' before." Did he just call it 'city food'? It's hard to believe that he doesn't attend her school. He doesn't look any older than her and he would be a knockout to all the girls at school. Heck, even _she_ would have eyes for him like she has eyes for him right now.

Another rumble comes from Naruto's belly. Sakura stands up. "Let's go! That stomach doesn't sound like it wants to wait." Naruto stands up and follows Sakura.

A few minutes of brisk walking and they end up at a small restaurant that says 'Ichiraku Ramen'. "This is it! It's small but they have the best ramen in town." Sakura says.

"Okay! This is exciting in a way." They enter and they see an older man and a young woman working around the small kitchen. The restaurant has six seats and all were empty.

The older man goes in the back of the kitchen leaving the young woman to tend to the customers. "Welcome again, Sakura-san!" She takes a look at Naruto. "And you're not alone! Who's the cutie?" Did she just call him a cutie? She doesn't blame her for calling him that but she feels anger build towards her. But she suppresses it.

"This is my friend, Naruto." She looks to Naruto. "Naruto, this is Ayame. The owner's daughter and assistant."

Naruto and Ayame shake hands and exchange hellos. Ayame then looks at Sakura. "Way to go, Sakura-san." she says with a wink. Does she think that they are on a date? Sakura would like to call it one but she's just being a good friend and showing her friend around the city. That's all. She then feels her heart sink. Ayame returns with a notepad. "So will it be the Miso Pork Ramen as usual?"

Sakura puts up two fingers. "Yes. But one for me and one for Naruto."

Ayame writes the order and goes to the back. "Tou-san! Two Miso Pork!"

In the back of the kitchen the older man could be heard. "Got it!" The patting of knifes and the bubbles of boiling broth could also be heard.

Sakura gets really nervous but keeps her cool on the outside. It looks just like a date! It seems absurd to have such feelings for Naruto after one day but, in her heart, it feels very right to be by his side. But he's just a friend! This feeling just must be her hormones acting up. Yes, that's it!

Naruto turns to his left towards Sakura. Sakura turns her head to him giving him her attention. "I want to be modest but I guess you were right. I guess I am pretty handsome. I've been receiving blushes and giggles from girls all day today."

Sakura puts on a proud smirk. "I told ya."

Naruto chuckles at her cockiness. "So what makes this ramen shop so good?"

"This place's ramen is very good. The best, in my opinion. But I don't come here too often." she says while playing with her hair.

Naruto looks around the shop then back at Sakura. "You told me your friends' names yesterday, but you never told me which one's which."

Sakura's eyes widen slightly. He's right, she didn't! "Well to start, the blonde one that called you a 'hunk' was Ino. She's the biggest gossip girl in school. The pale and shy looking one with black hair was Hinata. She's cute but is it's a shame that she's so shy. And the one that wears her hair in buns is Tenten. She's Chinese but is born here in this city."

Naruto narrows his eyes and furrows his brows. "And do you might know who those boys were at the park?"

"Oh, those were just other attendants of my school. Some are my classmates."

Sakura could sense a little anger in Naruto. "And that 'Lee' guy. What was with him?"

Sakura felt a little anger at the thought of 'him'. "Yeah, he's one of my admirers. The most annoying one, too."

"Well _I_ think that he just needs a good friend. Me and my friend didn't get along at first, but now we're like brothers. In fact, I got him to come to the city with me to help me find you. But you came to me instead."

Sakura recalls Naruto saying that he had a friend. "The one you said that likes his privacy?"

Naruto chuckles. "He's been in this city before so I thought that he could be helpful. I was and am still completely lost in this city."

Ayame returns with two hot bowls of noodles. "Here's your ramen!"

Sakura noticed that it came pretty early. "That was fast."

Ayame sets the bowls down in front of them. "Tou-san got prepared early so we were able to serve quickly." She heads to the back but before leaving she takes one more look at Naruto and giggles then leaves.

Sakura picks her chopsticks up and hears Naruto's stomach again. "That smells really good." he says. He grabs his chopsticks and takes a rather large bite. His eyes widen. He chews and swallows. "This ramen is amazing!"

Sakura wears another smirk. "Told ya again." She takes her first slurp. When she swallows she returns to the conversation. "So, your friend, what is he like?"

Naruto, already halfway finishing his bowl, swallows. "He's a private kinda guy but he ain't shy. He likes to tease around but he's serious most of the time. Handsome devil, he is. But he and I have known each other for, like, three-hund..."Naruto pauses. "...for a long time." Naruto's forehead releases a sweat bead. "Oh, and... err... he saw your friends last night. He says he finds that girl,... uhh, Ino, yeah her. He says he would like to meet her."

"You said that he's in the city, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then there's a small chance they might meet. If he's as handsome as you say he is then Ino will definitely notice him."

Naruto finishes the rest of his bowl then drinks the broth. Sakura couldn't finish her bowl. Something else was on her mind. "So how long are you going to be in the city?"

Naruto sighs a refreshing sigh as he finishes the broth. "I'm actually going to stay for a while. Maybe late night, even. I've seen the city lights from the mountain and I'd like to see the night city in person."

Sakura thinks of an idea. "Well, I have no school tomorrow. I can show you around." Now she's just finding excuses to be with him.

Naruto looks at her and smiles. "I'd like that." Sakura feels her heart jump. This crush is getting out of hand.

Sakura raises her courage and grabs Naruto's right wrist. "Come on! Let's go then." She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a little over 870 yen and sets it on the counter. "That should be enough." And with that being done, she sprints out the shop pulling Naruto with her.

"Sakura-chan! Slow down!" Sakura stops and lets go of Naruto's wrist. Naruto wraps his left hand around his wrist and massages it. "Wow. You have an amazing grip!"

Sakura feels guilty for hurting him. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

Naruto finishes rubbing his wrist. "Yeah I'm fine."

Sakura places her right hand on her left shoulder. "I wanted to show you as much of the city as I could. One day isn't enough to take in the city."

Naruto places his hand on Sakura's right shoulder. "It's okay. I know that one day isn't enough, but I'd like to see the city and take in the sights..." His eyes gaze into her emerald irises. "... with you next to me."

Sakura feels her heart melt as she stares into his beautiful blue eyes. "Alright." She grabs his right hand with her left hand and she feels a tingling sensation in her entire body. She heads towards downtown with Naruto's and her hands connected. This felt right. None of it felt wrong. She silently tells herself that this is more than a crush. She has genuine feelings for Naruto. And her heart accepted that idea with open arms.

_...::::_

From the roof of a building, Sasuke was watching from afar. "Hehe. Now I know what the blonde girl's name is." He heads towards the stairs to go down. "Your search is done, Dobe. Now _my_ search begins." he says as he heads down the stairs.

**That's the end of the second chapter! Sakura has finally accepted her love towards Naruto and Sasuke now knows Ino's name. Next chapter will show Sasuke's search for Ino. Don't forget to review!**** 謝謝! -Noshi**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three! Naruto and Sakura have found each other and their feelings for each other are mutual. However, they don't know of the feelings towards each other. Now Sasuke, the snake demon, will search for the blonde friend of Sakura's, Ino.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. The characters and storyline belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

Sasuke roams the city. His search for Ino so far has been fruitless. All he can remember about her is her fair skin and her pale, blonde hair. Naruto had used telepathy to inform Sasuke that he has found Sakura and that the girl that Sasuke's after's name is Ino. But no last name.

_Naruto, can you tell me if she has a last name?_

_I'll tell you anything about her later. I'm kinda with Sakura right now._

Sasuke lets out a hmph. _On a date, I see. _

_No! Or at least, I don't think it is._

Sasuke just continues walking._ Just update me on any new information when you get any._

_Awright,_ Teme.

Sasuke is among a sea of people. His eyes are open for blonde hair. And suddenly...

"He's back!" a young woman's voice cries. And with that said, a whole mob of girls run at him.

"Oh shit!" He quickly realizes that it is his club of admirers. He has escape. Fast. He hauls ass towards the closest corner and makes a sharp right turn then finds a dark alley way. He enters the dark alley and stays in the shadows. At this point the girls are looking left and right with hungry eyes.

"Where'd he go!" a girl within the mob yelled.

"Aagh! He's so elusive!"

The girls mob dissolves away. "Next time, we'll surround him."

Sasuke waits for the coast to be clear. Then he exits the shadows and alleyway and continues walking as if nothing happened. This is the reason he doesn't like the city. Just because he can change into human form doesn't mean that he can choose what he looks like. The girls just go nuts around him. At first he liked it, but now it has gotten out of hand. "Hopefully Dobe doesn't have this problem." His mind returns to his pursuit. "If she likes me back, that might get the other girls offa me. I get the girl I'm after and I can enjoy my time with her in peace. Killing two birds with one stone."

_...::::_

Naruto couldn't believe there was so much to see within the city! Sakura has shown him more things in the past hour than he's ever seen in the past two hundred years!

She's been pulling him around the city, he never hesitated once. He didn't mind where they went as long as he's with her.

They just finished visiting the dumpling restaurant. They happened to run into one of Sakura's teachers at her school, Anko-sensei is what Sakura calls her. He honestly thinks that the adult woman is creepy but nice. Sakura's hands are once again firmly around his wrist. But this time she's not as energetic. "You must be tired."

She inhales deeply. "I'm fine, Naruto." She takes a look at her phone to see the time. "The day's halfway done already."

Naruto puts on a grin. "Yeah, the time went pretty fast."

Sakura slightly tightens her grip. "Come on! I want you to meet my friends! You haven't met them properly last time."

"We're going to see your friends now?"

She turned her head towards him. "Yep!" She turns head back and starts walking.

Maybe he can help Sasuke out after all.

_Hey, Teme._ He says secretly to Sasuke as he walks.

_What, Dobe? Ya got anything that can help me?_

_Yeah, I do. I'm going the see Sakura-chan's friends. You can more than likely meet Ino this way._

_Thanks. Just tell me where you are when ya get there, awright?_

_Okay._

Sakura stops lets go of his arm. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone and pushes a few buttons and it made a light beeping sound. She waits around and her phone makes another beep. She looks at her phone screen. "Oh, they're at our usual hangout."

Naruto raises an eyebrow. "And where's that at?"

She puts the phone back in her pocket. "Err, it's not that far from here. It's in the mall." She reaches for his arm this time. "Come on, I'll take you." She wrapped her arms around Naruto's right arm and he felt pure bliss. They walked together to the mall.

_Sasuke. Come to the mall._

_...::::_

Sasuke is once again hiding. But this time it's from the jealous boys who want him dead. He knows that he can easily take them all on, but he wants to hide the fact that he's a demon. They're just jealous that he can get girls effortlessly.

If he could he would walk up to them and tell them that he's only interested in one girl. But they obviously don't look like in the mood to talk. He's on top of another building just watching gingerly as the boys wander aimlessly looking for him. He could leave and go to the mall, but this is humoring him so he sticks around to see this.

From on top of the building, he can see that the mall is only about 10 or so blocks away. He stops looking at his entertainment and goes straight for the mall.

He sees that one side of the building is completely empty of people so he jumps off the building and falls five stories and lands on his feet gently only making a tap. He remembers his destination and walks casually towards it.

_...::::_

Sakura is holding onto Naruto's arm. She gently squeezes his bicep to find that it's not very big but it feels very strong. She wishes that he could carry her in those arms.

Her friends are at the coffee shop. Their usual hangout area. She can't wait to introduce her friends to Naruto. "Naruto, you remember who's who, right?"

Naruto used his free hand to rub his chin as he remembers. "The blonde one's Ino. The girl with her hair in buns is, err, Tenten. And the shy girl is Hinata. Did I get it all?"

She smiles. "Yep. Ya got it."

They are nearing the mall. "I honestly can't wait to see their faces when they meet you."

Naruto just walks alongside her. "And why's that?"

She tries to avoid eye contact, in fear of hungrily staring into Naruto's gorgeous blue eyes. "Well, Ino already called you a 'hunk'. Just imagine how she'll look when she sees you now in this clothing."

Naruto just forces a chuckle. "Do the clothes make _that_ much of a difference?"

Sakura had to admit. He looks quite dashing in modern clothing. "Well, I liked seeing you in a yukata. But you would've stuck out like a sore thumb in this city."

Naruto chuckles once more, but without force. They have reached the mall and are entering the massive complex. Naruto's eyes open widely. His gaze searches the inside of the building. "Whoa. This is huge! It looks so much bigger from the inside."

Sakura still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that Naruto has never been in the city. He said he lives alone so what was or _is_ keeping him from going? But she's glad that she can help introduce him to the city. Naruto looks to her. "So where's this 'usual hangout' of your friends at?"

Sakura thought he would never ask. "Oh, it's the coffee shop on the second floor."

Naruto looked up to the second floor. "Awright. We shouldn't keep them wait now, should we?" He used his right arm to loosen her grip on him and grabs her left hand. They are holding hands! "You lead the way, Sakura-chan." Her heart does back flips at her name. She nods once and walks alongside Naruto hand-in-hand. As much as she enjoys it, they look like a couple. But she's just guiding him to her friends and them holding hands is probably just because Naruto doesn't want to get lost in a sea of people.

She decides to take the escalator. Naruto seems a bit reluctant. "Are those stairs... moving?"

"Mm-hm!"She takes one more step towards it. "It's called an 'escalator'. Come on!"

Naruto reluctantly takes his first step in. Once he puts his first foot on he realizes that he needs both feet on the step so he quickly catches himself by putting his other foot on the moving step. Sakura giggles at him. Naruto just looks at her with slightly red-ish cheeks. "Sorry. I hope I'm not being too much of a bother."

Sakura smiles. "No, you're not at all. This is... cute." They both lightly blush. They quickly reach the second floor. "We're almost there."

On their walk to the coffee shop, Sakura notices that with every passing step that Naruto takes he's being watched by girls who giggle when they think that Naruto looked at them. She feels anger once more, but she tries not to show it.

They are nearing the coffee shop and Sakura can clearly see her friends sitting at a table. "Hey, guys! I'm here!"

The three girls turn their heads to see Sakura and, to their surprise, the boy from the mountain. Ino points at him while looking at Sakura, who's hand is still holding Naruto's. "I-isn't that the handsome boy from the shrine from yesterday?"

Sakura tightens her grip. "Yes." Sakura loosens a bit. "In fact, I'd like for you guys to meet him." She tugs on Naruto towards Ino and turns her attention to Naruto. "Naruto, this is my good friend, Ino."

Ino sticks her hand out for a handshake. "Yamanaka Ino. Pleasure to meet you, good-looking. I hope you're treating our Sakura nicely."

Naruto smiles and shakes her hand. "I'm Naruto. The pleasure is all mine and don't worry, I won't bully her."

Sakura feels warmth all around her. She then takes his hand and guides him over to Tenten. "This is Tenten."

Naruto turns to the Chinese girl. "I'm Naruto. Nice to meet you."

Tenten looks at his blue eyes. "I'm Tenten. Likely." She couldn't look at his eyes for to long or else she would've stared at them.

Sakura sees that they're acquainted so she takes his hand and shows him to Hinata. "And this is Hinata."

Hinata tries not to make eye contact. She is blushing furiously. "H-he-hello. I'm Hyu-Hyuuga Hinata."

Naruto moves in closer. "I'm Naruto. There's no need to be shy." Hinata's breathing rate increases and soon she faints. The other girls and Naruto hurry to catch Hinata. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I don't know what happened."

"I guess she couldn't handle being so close to you." said Ino teasingly. She then leaves Tenten to tend to Hinata. Tenten takes Hinata to the nearest restroom to try and splash some water to wakes her up. "So. How close _are_ you and Sakura?"

Sakura is shocked by this question. "Ehh? What kind of question is that?"

Ino looks at her with eyes that say 'duh'. "The kind of question you think it is." She switches to look back at Naruto. "Answer me. Are you two a couple or what?"

Naruto and Sakura look at each other and back to Ino. "No, no. You got this a bit wrong. You see, this is my first time in this city so I was lost as hell. But Sakura found me and she's been showing me around the city."

Ino pits on a confused look. "First time? You live in the mountain that's next to a city, but this is your first time?" She sounds shocked.

"Don't worry. I was shocked too when I found out." Sakura adds. Sakura then remembers something she wanted to do. "Oh. And by the way, Ino." She raises her fist and hits Ino in the head with her index knuckle.

Ino rubs her head. "Agh! What was that for?"

Sakura lowers her hand. "That was for blogging about me getting lost in the mountain."

Then, out of the corner. "Hey, Dobe. So that's where you've been."

Naruto looks towards the sound of the voice. "Took you long enough, Teme."

Sakura looks at the raven haired boy. He looks at her. "We meet again." he says calmly.

Sakura's lowers her eyebrows. "Naruto, you know him?"

Naruto looks back at her. "Yes. He's my friend I told you about."

"Him? You're friends with him?"

Naruto looks confused. "What do you mean? Have you guys met before?"

Sakura's anger is fueled with every passing second of looking at Sasuke. "Hell yeah, I know him. All the other girls go crazy around him and it's annoying."

Sasuke averts his focus away from Sakura. He grabs a seat and sits half a meter from Ino, who is almost drooling at the sight of Sasuke.

Sakura sticks close to Naruto. She then uses a hand to hold Naruto's arm to comfort herself.

Ino gets a hold of herself and rests her head on her hand. "So... you single?" she says seductively.

Sasuke looks at her. "I see you like to get to it. I saw you and your friends in the mountain yesterday and I wanted to meet you."

Ino giggles. "Oh, did you?" Sakura is getting sick from this. "Well, seeing that you're single and so am I, wanna..." she slips a hand around Sasuke's arm. "... go see a movie?"

"And dinner is on me." He stands up and Ino follows his lead with arms around him. They walk away from the coffee shop.

Naruto scoffs. "Wow! They hit it off really quick!"

Sakura puts on a sickened look. "Yeah, so quick it makes me sick. I can't believe she went him."

"I'm not surprised at all."

Tenten returns with Hinata. Hinata takes a seat. The four continue to talk at the coffee shop.

_...::::_

Sasuke was a natural when it came to getting women. But this time it felt different. He something more with this girl. This was all new to him even after living for several centuries. He doesn't know what it is exactly, but some part of him liked it.

Was this what Naruto felt? Was this why he had to come to the city? For this? He begins to understand. But his biggest concern at the moment was... which movie should they see? He eventually stops thinking. "So what do you wanna see?"

Ino points to some romantic-comedy movie that recently came out in South Korea but has subtitles. He has no problem with the movie a long as he was with her so he gladly pays for the tickets and a few snacks and drinks, of course. They grab the edibles and the tickets and walked side-by-side to their movie. Sasuke knew that this one was a keeper. And his heart just knows.

_...::::_

Tenten and Hinata left the coffee shop because it was starting to get late. Naruto and Sakura left the coffee the coffee shop because it was closing. Sakura decides that they should just go have a friendly walk. They exit the mall to see the night lights from the city. Sakura sees Naruto's eyes scanning the sights and taking it all in. "The lights are beautiful, aren't they? Even to the people who live here, the view just never gets old." she says.

Sakura takes the first step and Naruto stays at her side rather than following from behind. Her heart yearns to call this day with Naruto a date, but they aren't 'official' yet. They walk around the still busy streets, but this time it feels as if Naruto is guiding her. She doesn't mind because it's just a walk. She feels Naruto's hand slip into hers. She anxiously grabs it.

Soon, the path that Naruto is taking becomes more familiar. And, without paying attention to the time, they are at the park once again. Naruto chooses to sit on a bench under a tree. Sakura sits to his right. Naruto lets out a sigh. "There's more to this city than I thought. But I'm happy to be able to see it for the first time with you, Sakura-chan." She feels as if her heart is dancing with joy. Naruto turns his head to Sakura. "You said that you've never been in a relationship with another guy, have ya?"

Sakura begins to have butterflies in her stomach. "Y-yeah."

Naruto smiles his usual radiant smile and looks into her eyes. Her eyes refuse to look away from his. Naruto inhales softly. "Well... I was wondering if..., if you'll accept me,..." he say with a hint of nervousness in his voice. "I was wondering... if..." Sakura knows he has something important to say. "... if I could be your first."

Sakura's heart flutters. He has feelings too! Her feelings have been returned! Small tears drip down her cheek. "Yes! I accept. Please be my first!" she wraps her arms around him. Now she knows. She knows that she can trust her heart.

**Chapter three! Sorry it took me a while to update, but I was out to visit my family in another state. I hope this can make up for it. Review please! Oh, and if you can, put ideas in the reviews for stories in the future. I could really use the support. Thanks to all who read and review my stories! You guys and gals are great! As you support me, I'll support you all!******** 謝謝! -Noshi**


	4. Chapter 4

**Fourth chapter! Sorry if the last chapter had grammar mistakes, ie. using wrong tenses. But I love it when people point out the flaws in my stories. It will help me improve over time. Anyway, Sakura has just accepted Naruto to be her first boyfriend. How will the elder demons react to see one of their own with a human?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The characters and storyline belong to Masashi** **Kishimoto.**

"Yes! I accept. Please be my first!" She wraps her arms around Naruto in a hug. Naruto is, at first, surprised by her choice of action, but then returns the hug. Her tears of joy stream down as his shirt soaked it up. Her head rests on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat. They share their embrace under the moonlight as a new couple. She doesn't want to let him go. She feels perfectly content like this.

After what felt like an eternity, Sakura wonders if she is Naruto's first. Surely he had other relationships in the past. But now that they are a couple she wants to know everything about him. "Naruto, have you ever been with another girl besides me?"

"Hmm? Well if it's being with a girl I guess I've been with your friends, right?"

Sakura sees that he's playing around with her. "Oh, Naruto, you know what I mean."

Naruto sighs. "No, I haven't. You're my first as well. And I'm happy to be able to say that."

Sakura couldn't believe her ears. She's his first, too! This just how she pictured her first love to be like. A cute and caring boy, sitting in the park under the moonlight, and to top it all off, they're each other's first relationship! Her patience has finally paid off. But her time with him is cut short when she hears her phone ring. She frantically grabs her phone and sees that her mother is calling her. She answers and put it up to her ear. "Hi, Mom."

Her mother sounds worried. "Sakura. Where have you been? You're late for dinner."

The time slipped past her. Disappointment fills her, but she had to go home. Besides, there's always tomorrow. "Okay, Kaa-san. I'll be home immediately." She ends the call and puts the phone back in her pocket. "Sorry, Naruto. I've got to go home now. See you tomorrow?"

Naruto smiles. "Sure. Besides I better get back to the shrine. Who knows what can happen to it while I'm gone." Naruto gives her one last hug then stands up. "Tomorrow, if I'm not in this spot, I'll still be at the shrine. Tomorrow is actually a pretty busy day."

Sakura remembers how important the shrine is to him. "Awright. I'll remember!" They walk their separate ways looking back at each other one more time and she waves her hand. She looks forward and heads home. She knows that this day would end eventually, but this she feels that tonight she will have the most restful sleep in a long time.

_...::::_

Naruto walks towards the mountain with a spring in his step. There is nothing he can say that made this day bad. On his way, he reminisces on what happened today. Sasuke soons joins up with him. "Finally! I thought I'd never catch up to you."

Naruto and Sasuke are nearing the mountains. Naruto looks up at the stars. "She accepted me."

Sasuke looks at him with a quizzical look. "What?"

Naruto keeps looking at the stars. A smile spreads across his face. "She..., Sakura-chan,... she accepted me."

"She did? That's great!" He gives Naruto a pat on the back. "I'm proud of you, Dobe."

Naruto feels pride and joy as well. "Thanks."

They reach the mountain then find a secluded spot within the forest and revert to their true forms. Naruto feels his fur again. "It feels rather strange to have fur again."

Sasuke slithers to him. "Well, I'm tired. *yawn*. Seeya tomorrow," he says then slithers to his shrine.

Naruto walks to his shrine with his human clothes his mouth. The spring in his step is still present. The walk to the shrine was not as difficult as he remembers. It could be that he is in a good mood. He reaches the shrine and turns into his human form so he can properly put his clothes away. He neatly folds his clothes up and stores them away.

He remembers how messy he was when he was younger. The shrine used to be dusty and have his fur everywhere every time he sheds. But as he grew, he realized that it was appalling to look at so he changed for the better.

He decides to stay in his human form. He doesn't want Sakura to see his demon form so he wants to get used to not having fur.

Suddenly, he faces a huge moral dilemma. What was to happen if Sakura finds out that he's a demon? Would she still love her? Could she accept that part of him too? Could they actually live happily together?

Another problem rushes in. Sakura is a human. Her life span pales in comparison to his. How would he continue living when she dies?

His mind spins around with confusion. He never realized that these problems would come up. But when he was with her, it felt so right. It felt as if he was where he was supposed to be. With her, at her side, willing to do anything to see her radiant smile.

Despite all of the problems, true love is hard to come by. He hasn't seen true love in centuries and now he has found it. He has found true love with a human. He knows that it is against heaven's law for demons to never court humans. But he will defy it. Despite of her lifespan, he with savor every moment with her. At least, when she dies, he would have everlasting memories of her.

So his resolve. He will continue to live as a human with her. As long as he can be with her, he doesn't care that she will eventually leave him. He promises to give her a happy life, even if it means that he'd have to do it with his bare hands. He will put his all in everything he does for her. And he never goes back on his word.

He feels like the luckiest being on Earth. He felt the urge to thank someone for this. He walks to the front porch of the shrine and looks up at the bright, full moon. "Thank you, Kami-sama."

_...::::_

Sakura is at home and finished her dinner. Cold curry. She gets to her room and closes the door behind her.

The only thing that could get in her mind was that she did it. She accepted him. A cocktail of nervousness and joy fills her. She never felt anything like this, and yet it feels so right.

She grabs and tightly hugs her pillow and rolls around on her bed. "Yyyesss! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! I did it!" She calms herself. "Naruto is my boyfriend." The word 'boyfriend' still feels funny on her tongue. But it's the only word she can think of that can fit.

She looks out of her room window and up at the night sky and at the moon. The moon is full night. She gazes at the natural beauty of the moon. She then looks at the foot of her bed. It just seems like good things are happening, one after another. "How am I going to tell this to my friends? Am I just going to just tell them that we hooked up after one day of actually knowing each other? Well..., that's actually true, but it would just sound weird."

Her grip in her body pillow loosens as she looks out her room window again and looks up at the night sky. She wonders how the city lights look like from where Naruto is. He's probably at his home right about now. His view must be breathtaking. Then thoughts of him at a school emerge in her head. Does he attend a school? There are other schools around here, it is possible for him to attend a nearby school. But which one? If she remembers correctly, there are two other high schools in the city other than hers.

But today was his first time in the city so there's no way he can go to any of those schools without being in the city. But he doesn't seem uneducated.

This posed a big mystery for her. But strangely, she almost doesn't care. Her heart wavers at the thought of him. And that's enough for her to know that _this _is real.

She looks out star filled sky once more and looks at the moon again. She doesn't know what compelled her to say this, but she does anyway. "Thank you, Kami-sama."

_...::::_

Meanwhile, the elder demons were observing the two in the mountain from a crystal ball. The shiny, glowing orb has the power for anyone to see anything that they wish. The nine elders are the leaders of all demons in the world.

But the one with the highest authority is known throughout Asia, probably the whole world knew him, was a huge nine tailed fox. The Chinese demons know him as 狐狸精 (Huli Jing), in Korea he's known as 구미호 (Gumiho)_, _ but to the demons in Japan such as Naruto and Sasuke he is known as 九尾の狐 (Kyuubi no Kitsune). But the other elders know him as Kurama.

He and his colleges are getting very concerned at Naruto and Sasuke. One of the elders, huge ox with octopus tentacles for legs, starts to speak. "What do we do to those two in the mountain?"

Kurama is just as puzzled as some of the others. "I don't know Gyuki. This isn't the first time we've seen this happen though."

The large, six-winged kabutomushi is one of the few who show the least confused and is seen with the best smile it could make. "Well, I think they look quite cute together."

Gyuki turns to the beetle with seriousness written all over him. "This is no time to play hook-up, Chomei! This relationship is against the laws of heaven!"

Chomei scoffs. "Oh, stop being so serious." Chomei then looks to the blue bakeneko. "Wouldn't you agree, Matatabi?"

He tries to stay neutral so he pays no attention to Gyuki and Chomei's quarrel. He turns to Kurama who is still trying to find a way to resolve this. "Kurama-san, the only thing I can think of to do is to wait and see what happens. Problems like this have happened in the past and they've always resolved themselves."

Kurama thinks of what he said. It's true that similar situations like this have occurred but not for hundreds of years. But Matatabi might be right. Maybe history will replay itself. "I understand what you are saying. But what really bothers me that many times before when a kitsune and a human form a relationship it's usually the kitsune is female. This is a first time I've seen the kitsune be male. I wonder how this will work out."

The four tailed turtle, after being relatively quiet for most of the time, decides to speak. "I will agree with Matatabi. We should let this carry on on its own. Kurama is right, this is the first time that the male half of the relationship is male. We can learn from this."

Kurama is finally persuaded. "Fine, Isobu. We'll let it go on."

Gyuki, for one, seems very worried that this plan might not end the way they might expect. But Isobu had a good point. This might not happen again anytime soon. Any time to learn is a good time. "Okay. I'm with Isobu on this." He turns his head to Chomei. "But this doesn't mean that I support this relationship at all!"

Chomei looks into the crystal ball. "Well, there's one thing I know. This is going to be interesting."

**That's chapter four! The elders know of their love! Will Naruto and Sakura's love survive now that they have the most powerful demons watching over them? Can Naruto be able to hide his secret from Sakura? Leave a review for the story! And I will appreciate any ideas for stories that I can make in the future. Don't expect chapter five to come out soon. Just warning. I'll be waiting for the reviews! -Noshi.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five is out! Yay! I finished this chapter a lot faster than I expected. Sorry if it took me a while. I had some work to do. I was also waiting for a bunch of stuff that I bought on eBay. But now that that's out of the way, I can return to my writing! **

**The story thus far: A fox demon, named Naruto, that lives in Akuma no Yama fell in love with a human girl by the name Haruno Sakura that lives in the city next to the mountain. Sakura shares the feelings towards him and they eventually become a couple. Meanwhile, Sasuke, a snake demon and Naruto's best friend, couples up with Yamanaka Ino. These loves are against the laws of heaven and the elder demons are keeping a close eye on these two. Especially Naruto.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The characters and storyline belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

Sakura wakes up and rises from her bed, stretches and yawns. She looks at the clock. She sleep pretty late, but it was fine because it is still weekend.

Last night she could barely go to sleep. Her mind was filled with romantic thoughts of a certain blonde boy. She kept replaying what happened last night. And with a rushing mind she could barely sleep.

She dreamt something weird last night, though. In her dream, she was walking around the city while a large fox with orange-red fur kept following her. It was bigger than any fox that she's seen so she doesn't want to make any suspicious movements that might piss it off. But seemed content being around her and it was kinda cute so she let it tag along. This was strange because she doesn't trust stray or wild animals, but what made her allow this fox to be around her. And even more, she felt as if she wanted it to be by her side. It's cheery aura kinda resembled Naruto's.

But it was just a dream. She gets out of bed and goes to the bathroom to brush her teeth. As she brushes she recalls Naruto saying that if he's not at the sight of where they confessed their love then he'd be at his shrine. She should just grab a breakfast bar and head to the park. She decides on that and finishes brushing her teeth. She changes her clothes.

She goes to the kitchen to find a note on the table that reads 'Gone to grocery store. Be back later. -Mom'. Sakura then takes another sheet of paper and writes 'Gone to see my friend again. Be back for dinner, on time this time. -Sakura'. She takes her mother's note and trashes it. She passes the kitchen table and notices that there was a newspaper laying on it. She takes a glimpse of the weather. It calls for a seventy percent chance of rain. She eyes at her umbrella near the door. She'll need it.

She takes her time to grab her things and then she opens a cabinet and reaches for a breakfast bar. It should do for today. She takes her umbrella, heads out the door and locks it from behind her then heads for the park.

She has a feeling that she will have to go to the shrine. But it won't hurt to check if Naruto is at the park.

_...::::_

Naruto is awake, in his human form and wearing his normal yukata, and sweeping the shrine floor. He accidentally reverted back to his true form while he was asleep. He never realized he sheds so much in his sleep.

Nothing can make him any happier than being with his 'Sakura-chan', but he has his duties that he must attend to. This shrine is his home, his sanctuary, that place that he dreams to live with his 'Sakura-chan'. Will she be alright living in the mountain? Maybe he should get accustomed to the city. He wouldn't want to displease the future in-laws.

But living in the city will mean that he will need money. And he is flat out broke. He needs a job. But what skill does he have that can give him an honest living?

Naruto continues to ponder while sweeping the floor. When his eyes look down he sees the floor. His eyes trail up to a glossy red pillar and up to the ceiling. He inspects every corner of the shrine until he realizes something. He doesn't want to live anywhere else but here at his shrine. The home he made with his own being. The home he learned how to build by studying how the humans made their's, but that was several hundred years ago. Will this satisfy Sakura? Can she ever get accustomed to life in this humble mountain? All the needs to live are laid bare at his home. Fresh air, shelter, he grows his own food or gathers things that he can eat around the forest.

The lifestyle he lives is a stark contrast to the way he saw Sakura lives in the city.

As he continues to think clouds in the sky darken and make a rumbling noise. "Looks like it'll rain today. Maybe I can't go see Sakura-chan today." He finishes sweeping as small drops fell. Not too long later, it starts to pour. He, for one, is glad it's raining. The river started to look a bit dry. But his mind is always sunny when he thinks of Sakura. He puts his broom away and starts boiling water to make tea. He then opens a pot with tea leaves in it and puts it in his teapot. He received this teapot as a gift from a Chinese demon. She was nice but she was also pretty scary. But this isn't the time to be thinking of that.

Well today is probably going to be a lonely day. It's raining so Sakura can't come and the rain is making the air cool so Sasuke would be at his shrine trying to warm up. How disappointing.

The water boiler starts to whistle. He takes the water boiler and pours the steaming hot liquid into the teapot. He sets the teapot down on the table and leaves it alone for later.

He walks to his quarters and decides to tidy up his futon. He returns and neatly places the pillows and picks up his blanket to fold it when he sees it has more fur on it. This might be a problem in the future. He takes his blanket to the living quarters and rapidly shakes the fur off. A great majority of the fur flew off but the remaining strands he had to remove by hand. He folds the blanket up and brings it to the futon and sets it down. When he returns he finds the floor covered in fur. He sighs then walks to get the broom to sweep up where he just finished sweeping. He quickly collects the fur and disposes of it.

The rain isn't letting up. He even hears the cracking of thunder and the flash of lightening. It's noon but the sky is a lumpy shade of grey. Naruto looks out from under an awning and sees no animals for they have all took shelter from the downpour. Then, he hears rustling from a distance. He faces to it. He hears the rustling get nearer and nearer. He then sees someone with an umbrella. The person gets closer and he can notice that it's a girl by the look of her figure and she was having a bit of trouble trekking through the mud. When she moves the umbrella out of the way of her face, he can see that her hair is pink. Pink hair? That can only be...

"Sakura-chan!" he yells to her.

She looks to Naruto. She sticks her arm out from the cover of the umbrella and waves to him. "Aye! Naruto!" She looks to the ground to see if there are any patches of grass or rocks that she can walk over to avoid the mud. "Just wait, I'll be right there!"

Naruto raises his voice to reach her ears. "Ya'know, there's a stone pathway to the entrance in the front." He points to his right.

She looks to his right to see the pathway only a couple meters away. She sighs. She walks toward the pathway while trying to avoid the mud. when she makes it to the pathway it was easy the rest of the way. She walks under the roof and unfolds her umbrella.

Naruto is simply touched by Sakura coming all this way, in the rain, to see him. Sakura sighs again in relief. "I made it." She sets her umbrella near the entrance. She faces Naruto and gives him a big hug. "Hi, Naruto. I came to see you."

Naruto returns the hug. "Thanks, Sakura-chan. But it's raining. Why did you come even when it's raining?"

Sakura loosens a bit. "Because I wanted to see you! What, am I not able to see my new boyfriend?" she says slightly teasingly.

Naruto gestures her to have a seat. She happily obliges. "You came at a good time. I just finished making some tea." He pours her a cup and gives it to her. She kindly accepts and blows on it to cool it down and takes a sip. "I will admit. You visiting me is a pleasant surprise."

Sakura sighs from the drink. "Well, there was nothing else I could think of to do. You were always in my mind. I HAD to come see you."

Naruto smiles sweetly. "How sweet of you." Naruto takes a sip of tea and sets the cup down. "Honestly, I was hoping to get to see you too." He rubs the back of his head in embarrassment even though he doesn't have anything to be embarrassed for. Being around her makes him act strange somehow.

Sakura chuckles. "Kawaii (So cute)." she whispers.

Naruto could have sworn that he heard her call him cute. "Hmm?"

Sakura blushes. "Oh! Nothing!" She looks around the shrine. "By the way, do you need any help around the shrine?"

Naruto is slightly taken back by her offer. "You'd... want to help me?"

Sakura shows a cute smile. "Of course! Besides, I'd like to know this shrine a little more."

She shows interest in the shrine! This is great! But will she accept it as a home? "Oh really? Well, you came a bit too late. I was nearly finished before you showed up. But you're free to walk around the shrine if you'd like as long as there's a roof over you. I wouldn't like it if you returned home with a cold."

Sakura looks around the inside of the shrine then turns her head to look at the floor and feels it. "This place is just as clean and fresh as I remembered it."

"Why, thank you. Would you like for me to show you around?" Naruto offered.

Sakura stands up. "Sure, I'd like that."

Naruto responds to her answer by standing up. "Come on." Sakura follows his lead. He shows her around from his living quarters to the garden in the back. His tour around the shrine takes a mere ten minutes. He admits, there isn't really anything special about the shrine. Sakura even admits that the place is very old fashioned. The final place in the tour is his room. He opens the door to reveal his not-so-finished-being-cleaned room. "Sorry about the room. I haven't quite finished cleaning it yet."

Sakura enters the room after him. "That's fine. Besides, I kinda wanted to see what your room looks like."

She looks down to see his pillow. She reaches down and plucks a tuft of fur that was on it. "Orange-red... that's familiar." she whispers to herself. She stands back up and turns to Naruto but her eyes are still on the fur. "Hey, Naruto. Where's this hair from?" As if on que, a flash of lightening and the roar of thunder rips the air. She then looks at him for an explanation.

Naruto is frozen in fear. He can't let her know. He thinks of something quick. "Oh,... um..., that's probably from an animal that likes to trespass into my room whenever I'm not around. Don't worry about it I'll clean my pillow later today."

Sakura looks back at the fur. "Oh. Okay." He sees a hint of suspicion in her face. He's only glad that his little white lie has worked. It breaks his heart that he has to lie to her.

He picks up the pillow and plucks away at the fur. HIS fur. When he finishes he disposes of the fur and replaces the pillow. He and Sakura sit cross-legged on the floor. "Ya'know, this room is actually really clean. I've heard that a boy's room would be really messy and not taken care of but I think you just shattered that myth."

Naruto knew nothing of the average teenage but he takes this as a compliment. "You're too sweet." He looks around once more then looks at Sakura. "So that's it. I've shown you the whole shrine, or at least most of it."

Sakura smiles. "It must be so nice to live here. You get to wake up to a breath full of fresh mountain air. It must feel great."

Naruto wanted nothing more than to ask her if she would like to enjoy the morning mountain air with him from now on. But of course, that would be rushing. "Well, it's certainly a refreshing way to wake up."

It remained silent for a few seconds. Then Sakura decides to break the silence. "I have a question for you. How did you ever become friends with that Sasuke?"

Naruto was somewhat expecting for that question. "Let me remember." He rubs his chin. "Well, at first, we didn't exactly get along."

Sakura snickers. "I'm able to believe that."

Naruto continues being careful to leave out both he and Sasuke's secret. "But, over time I guess, we got along very well. And now, he feels like a brother to me." Naruto decides to throw a question at her this time. "So why do you dislike him so much."

Sakura's facial features show clear anger then calms a bit. "Every girl is head over heels for him. Especially Ino. Whenever he's around and I see all the other girls go after him I felt as if I was missing out on something. But I knew that nothing good could come from hooking up with him so I kept my distance. But Ino would always go after him. So whenever he was around I would always be missing a best friend being with me. It feels as if he's taking my friend away from me. And now, he's got her."

Naruto feels a sudden wave of sympathy come over him. He recalls to the years of loneliness he spent without anyone with him. He couldn't imagine what would happen if he had a friend abandon him. He pulls Sakura in for a hug. Sakura gasps at his sudden move. "You don't have to worry about me leaving you. I will always remain at your side."

Sakura returns the hug. "Thank you, Naruto."

Naruto releases the hug and looks into Sakura's eyes. Their faces are only a few centimeters away. They lustfully look into each other's eyes as they close the distance. As their lips make contact a surge of electricity flows through both of them simultaneously. Their lips pressed together as Naruto had his first kiss. To him, she tasted sweet. Their lips parted. He didn't know what came of him to do it. "I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me! I... I..."

Sakura places a finger over his lips to shush him. "Naruto, it's okay. You worry too much and it was nice. That was also my first kiss."

Naruto feels a rush of relief from Sakura's honesty. "Thank you, Sakura-chan. That... was... my first kiss as well."

Sakura rests her head on his chest and smiles. "I'm so happy that I am your first. And I'm even happier that you are my first kiss. Thank you Naruto."

Naruto feels all warm and fuzzy on the inside. She rests her head and nuzzles it into his chest. Naruto is in his own personal Shangri-La.

_...::::_

Sasuke is taking care of his own shrine. He's in his snake form so he just sweeps away the dust with his tail. He senses another demon nearby. It's not Naruto.

"Show yourself." he says calmly and without moving his head.

A small bat appeared from above the ceiling. "Impressive."

Sasuke shows no signs of emotions. "What do you want? Or do you wish to be my next meal?"

The bat feels threatened. "Not this time, snake. I actually came with a message from the elders." He reveals a scroll. It'd be best to read it. Looks important." He finishes the sentence and flaps his wings away.

Sasuke wraps his tail around the scroll and lays it across the newly swept floor. He reads aloud, "Sasuke, the snake demon of Akuma no Yama. We, the Elder Council, have observed you and your friend, Naruto, the kitsune of Akuma no Yama. We have noticed that the both of you have been participating in a practice that is against the laws of heaven. We, however, will not intervene and only observe. You are prohibited to tell Naruto of this message.- The Elder Council."

Sasuke knows that they are in deep shit now. But he isn't allowed to tell Naruto of this. But they said they won't intervene so he will try his best to ignore this. Emphasis on 'try'. His stomach twists at the thought of what the Elders will do to them as punishment for the breaking of heaven's law. He only wishes the best of luck for his friend's newfound love.

**Chapter three! Finally! I hope that this chapter can make up for the long time it took me to write this. Please read and review! And be sure to put in the reviews for ideas for later stories!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sixth chapter! Yahoi! I really appreciate the few reviews I received. Kudos to you all! Again, big sorry for the last chapter taking forever to come. But now, school isn't going to make it any easier to continue my story quickly so just bare with me here. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The characters and storyline belong to Masashi** **Kishimoto.**

The sky is clear and shows the beautiful night sky. Naruto is sitting in the front porch. Sakura had left saying that she can't be late tomorrow. As much as he wanted her to stay he knew she couldn't. He just watched as she entered the cold rain with her umbrella shielding her. She waved with a smile on her face and walked away. As he discovered only recently, humans have buildings called "schools" and it provides the young people with education. Naruto has not been in a school but sees no interest in going to one.

He studies the night sky and sees a bat fly overhead. He didn't pay much attention to it. Today was a pretty tiring day. He stands up and walks to his futon and succumbs to a deep slumber.

_...::::_

Sasuke is still in disbelief. He just can't describe the emotion he's feeling. He feels anger, confusion, sorrow, violated. He is pretty sure that all Naruto wished for was a peaceful life with his love. But now there are nine old geezers watching him like hawks.

He couldn't lie. Naruto and Sakura look really happy together.

He lays on his belly and remembers his past sins. He remembers how he used to wreak havoc on villages. He'll never know how many happy lives he ever ruined from his rampages. But on further inspection, he never destroyed a village because of his own amusement. He would've always been in human form and living among the humans and hiding in plain sight.

But by fate, he'd always be a target for corrupt gang members. He'd always try to put up with them, but one day the gangs took it too far and he returned to his house from the market just to find a pile of ashes. He went blind with rage and couldn't retain his human form and destroyed everything in his past and hunted down the gang. Especially for the culprits who burned his house down. At the end he got what he wanted, every member of the gang lying in pieces with blood staining the floors and walls.

But he wasn't satisfied. He went on and attempted to destroy the entire village. Everyone ran out of their homes to try and escape the horror. Many people escape, the rest weren't as lucky. The people are all gone, but Sasuke continues his rampage. He's destroying the village he once called his home.

But then, a flash of red-orange fur slams him on the floor stopping what he was doing. He recovers and looks at his attacker. A kitsune. To Sasuke, this marked him as an enemy and an epic battle ensues. Many blows were landed. They're both tiring, but the kitsune seemed as if he could keep going on fighting. Nothing broke his spirit. The kitsune tells him to stop. Sasuke calms himself down. He looks around to see what he's done. The kitsune takes him to his home in the mountains and lets him rest at his place. He later reveals that his name Is Naruto and the next day, they begin making Sasuke a new home. Another shrine on the same mountain. Over time, they became friends, and eventually, they became brothers. He'll never forget what Naruto did for him.

But that was over three hundred years ago. But now his brother is not aware of what is happening to him. Sasuke has always abide to the rules of the elders and he not about to break his streak anytime soon. But, for the elders to know of an illegal love and not doing anything, something just doesn't seem right.

He can't fall asleep. There is too much racing in his mind to let him rest. But a tired body reigns over a busy mind and his he succumbs to the lure of slumber.

_...::::_

Naruto wakes up to a fresh morning. He looks around the room and sees that he has returned to his fox form while wearing his yukata. And more fur is around his futon. He reverts to his human form again and fixes his yukata. He spends a good chunk of his morning cleaning his futon.

The sky is blue and the clouds are white. The ground is still damp from last night's downpour. With his new found confidence to enter the city, he dons his "modern clothing" and leaves the shrine. He treks through the mud and quickly realizes why Sakura looked for rocks to step over instead of getting stuck and having trouble in the mud.

He heads for the city. He passes Sasuke's shrine on the way and notices that he hasn't got up yet. But Naruto wasn't in the mood to wake up a cranky snake so he just passes along.

After going down the sloped mountain and through the forest, he makes it to the edge of the city. Like last time, he climbs up and over a wire fence and goes through an alley and enters the crowd of people without suspicion.

The crowd is a bit less dense this time, though. It's probably because most of the young ones are at school and it's still morning. Naruto wants to takes advantage of this time of free reign around the city.

He decides to go to the park that he got little time to explore the other day. He leisurely walks towards his destination.

..._::::_

Sasuke wakes up with a strange feeling in his spine. He easily clears the uneasy feeling with a good stretch and a tight coiling around. Now he felt refreshed.

With his snake senses, he can see that Naruto has been near. He sees the warm-blooded trail leading to the city.

A displeasing feeling fills him. He hopes that Naruto won't run into any trouble.

Sasuke slithers to his garden behind the shrine and assumes his human form. He grabs a kunai and begins digging up weeds. The work was tedious, but it was nothing a one-thousand year old snake demon can't handle.

Sasuke, honestly, hates vegetables. Being a snake, he is much more comfortable eating something more protein based. But, the vegetables kepted him alive and he he's gotten used to them. However, just because he's used to them doesn't mean that he likes them.

He finishes weeding and puts the weeds in the compost heap. The uneasy feeling has ceased to leave him. Could it be from the message he received last night that's making him feel this? Can he let Ino know? Can he trust her to keep a secret? Maybe not.

He makes up his mind. He's going into the city to makes sure Naruto's fine.

_...::::_

Naruto is wandering the park. Like last time, he's receiving looks from the girls. He knows that he's much older than they are, but the women seem to be in their twenties. He wonders what allows older women to be with younger men. Must be a modern trend.

He exits the park and returns to the bustling city. He just couldn't take the eyes violating him.

However, entering the city didn't reduce the amount of attention he was receiving. He continues walking, completely oblivious to the yakuza members watching his every move.

Naruto just leisurely walks down the sidewalk. He senses a mischievous presence lurking behind him. He puts it off, but then notices it again. He stops to look behind him and see a crowd of people. He becomes suspicious. It's not a demon's presence, but just as ominous. He keeps walking with the hopes to escape the miasma.

But as he walks beside an alley to his right, the arms of two men grab his right shoulder and pull him in. They each grab a hold of both of his arms and hold him down. "Our bocchan would like to have a word with you." Their "young master"?

From the dark end of the alley comes a voice. "So this is the guy that won Sakura's heart? I wonder how." The shape a a teenage boy comes out of hiding. It's a fairly tall boy with black hair and handsome face. He also had his hands behind him. "I am Arata of the Sasaki clan."

Naruto isn't scared or hurt. "You know Sakura-chan?"

He moves his hands away from being behind him to reveal a baseball bat. "I'm her classmate. I've sought out her heart for years, but to no avail. Why the hell would she go for someone like you!?" he takes a hard swing at Naruto's head. When he looks at his bat he sees that it is lighter, shorter, and has splinters at the end. He looks back at Naruto to see that he is unharmed. "What?"

Naruto looks up. "If you want a fight. Just say so." He easily frees himself from the yakuzas' grasp sending them to the floor.

Arata is clearly intimidated. He throws the busted up bat to the floor and puts his guard up. Naruto notices that he has all his guard focused to his upper body and his legs are in a stance. This guy clearly knows karate. Naruto leaves his arms down but ready to defend himself.

Arata throws out his left fist. It was fast, but Naruto could see it coming from a mile away. He dodges it with ease by pivoting his body to the left allowing Arata's fist to pass him. Naruto grabs the wrist of the thrown punch and places his palm on Arata's shoulder blade. Arata is now incapacitated.

One of the yakuza gets back on his feet and roundhouse kicks Naruto's back. Naruto barely even budged. The man's leg is hurt but tries to shake the pain away.

The second man gets up to try and help his bocchan. Naruto releases Arata so he can defend himself from the other yakuza who reaches for a ninjato. He swings the blade at Naruto's chest. Naruto steps back and completely avoids the attack. Naruto waits for an opening. Naruto lunges forward to grab and twist the man's arm and disarm him. Naruto then grabs the ninjato and examines it. "A ninjato? I haven't seen one of these in ages."

He looks to his right to see the three angered men ready to strike. He throws the blade behind him.

He realizes that these men are serious. He'll have to drive them off. One way or another. "I guess there's no helping it. I'll have to fight ya'guys." He clenches his fists and goes into a stance.

They come at him with fists flying and full force. But Naruto's superior stamina and centuries of experience was serving him very well. He could almost see what they were doing before they attacked.

However, Naruto wasn't the aggressor. He blocked and dodged gracefully. He knew that he could outlast them. They are already showing signs of fatigue. He waits for openings then sends quick jabs to each of them.

His attackers are now tired and hurt. "Well, that was fun."

Arata, showing clear signs of anger, "You haven't seen the last of me. I know where you live, mountain-boy!" The three stumbled out of the alley and fled away. Naruto isn't even the least bit tired.

Naruto now senses that the maliciousness in the air is gone. He walks out of the alley and hears his stomach growl. Putting down three troublemakers sure makes a guy hungry. He follows familiar landmarks that he remembered going to with Sakura the other day. He's on his way to the ramen restaurant.

_...::::_

Sakura is sitting at a lunch table eating her bread that she bought.

Throughout the entire day, her mind has drifted back and forth from school to her kiss with Naruto. But now that she's at lunch she can finally calm herself down.

Every time she replays that kiss in her head, she feels absolute bliss. So much bliss, in fact, that she doesn't notice Ino come to the table.

"Forehead?" Ino snaps her fingers in front of Sakura's face.

Sakura is instantly brought back to the real world. "Huh?! Oh, it's you, Pig. Please don't do that ever again."

Sakura is beyond furious at Ino, but she holds it in in fear of getting in trouble. Yesterday, Ino chewed her out and she had to admit that she and Naruto are together. And to add insult to injury, Ino posted the news on her blog!

"Are you still mad at me for the blog thing? The way I see it, I did you a favor. Now boys will finally quit trying to make a move on you."

Sakura had to admit, Ino had a point. But as much as she appreciates the annoyances to cease, she's still angry. "Yeah, thanks for that."

Ino puts on a quizzical look. "About that, I haven't seen Arata at all today. Strange, he never misses a day."

Sakura can't stand Arata. She knows that he's yakuza and he's not afraid to show it or use it. It's a miracle that he has any girl to like him at all. In fact, he practically has the whole school's female count on him. Tsk, him and Sasuke.

Ino puts the quizzical face away and looks at Sakura. "So, Forehead, what're you up to after school?"

Sakura sees no point in lying to her anymore. "Me? Well I... I'm just gonna go home, do my homework, then maybe visit Naruto."

Sakura could almost predict what Ino was going to say next. "Ooh, can I come?"

She sees no harm in doing so. "Fine."

"Hmph, just fine, eh?"

Sakura finishes up her bread as Tenten and Hinata arrive to the table.

_...::::_

Naruto thanks kami that he actually had a thousand yen in his pocket. Sasuke probably left it in the pants and forgot to take back the money then gave it to Naruto.

Now Naruto's full and happy.

This is great! He's out, he's in the city, he's experiencing everything himself! He even made his first ramen purchase! He's just plain excited by everything. But his opinion likes the beauty of the night city lights better.

Naruto suddenly hears the cry of a woman in trouble. He looks towards the direction of the yell and sees a woman that was in her twenties and a thief in a tug-of-war with a hand bag. Naruto follows his instincts and rushed to her rescue.

As Naruto neared, the woman lets the bag go and delivers jabs to the thief's arm forcing him to let go and drop the bag. Naruto arrives and grabs the thief's arm and finishes him off by flipping him over his shoulder. The thief, in pain, runs away. Naruto then retrieves the bag and hands it to her. "Ya'know, something tells me that you would've been just fine if I hadn't showed up. You looked like you handled yourself pretty well there."

The woman takes her bag and slings it back over her shoulder. "Thanks. I am fairly skilled in self-defense. Thank you so much though." She puts her hands together and places them down in a respectful manner. "My name is Kato Shizune. Pleasure to meet you." She looks up at him and she changes her expression as if she is recalling something. "Say, aren't you that cute boy that I've heard rumors about?"

Naruto has only a faint clue of what she's talking about. "I'm not sure."

Shizune giggles. "Well, you certainly fit the description. The blonde hair, the blue eyes, the whiskers. Yup, that's you!"

Naruto is shocked how fast rumors spread. "I guess so. I'm Naruto." He extends his hand for a handshake.

Shizune accepts the hand without hesitation. "You seem pretty young, Naruto. You look like a student. Do you attend any school?"

Naruto's heart races but he decides to tell the truth. "No, I don't." He puts his hands behind him as his embarrassment mounts. "But, I'd like to go to a school in this city."

Shizune smiles. "Well..., I just happen to be a vice-principal at Akuma no Yama City High School! Today's just my day off. If you want me to, I could enroll you."

Akuma no Yama City?! The city was named after the mountain regardless that it's 'The Demon Mountain'. He learned something new today. Aside from that, him getting enrolled in a high school. He places his hand on his chin as he thinks it over. If he goes to school, then he won't be able to take care of his shrine as effectively. And on top of that, he remember how demon education was. He was never a school-going type. However this could be the perfect opportunity to actually know the city on a different level.

Shizune looks at Naruto anxiously for an answer. Naruto decides to come clean on this one as well and sighs. "I don't know. I have a home to take care of and I can't just abandon it."

Shizune now shows a look of worry. "Oh my, do you live alone?"

Naruto looks away from her. "At my home, yes. I take care of it myself. I won't tell you where it is though!" she looks frightened. "Ah! Sorry about that. I just don't want to tell many people where I live."

Shizune sighs in relief. "Sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad or anything. But if you want to enroll, just go to the school building and tell the lady at the front desk that 'Vice-principal Miss Kato' sent you. Okay?"

Naruto understood clearly. "Gotcha. I guess I'll be seeing you around, Shizune-neechan!" To him, she just had an older sister kind of feel around her.

Shizune blushes. "Neechan?" she whispers. She looks back at him. "Well, I gotta go. Seeya!" She turns around and walk but take another look at Naruto and giggles.

Naruto just smiles. What a nice lady. He has no idea what the position of 'vice-principal' is, but it sounds like an important position.

The sun is midway through it's trek across the sky. The thought of going to school wavers in his head. Should he go, he could understand the city better and quench his curiosity. And even more, understand Sakura on a deeper level. He wanted to know what Sakura sees, what she does, what she likes.

But he won't abandon his shrine. Who knows what could happen to it while he was gone for that long.

_...::::_

Sasuke is up above the buildings, watching over Naruto like a hawk. So far all he's seen is Naruto exit a ramen shop and help out a young lady. Nothing bad or too troublesome for him to handle.

The rooftops are his only safe havens against a mob of fan girls. Just the thought of them gave him the shivers.

He travels from rooftop to rooftop with inhuman-like speed to give him a better vantage point.

If anything, this is starting to bore him so he makes up him mind and goes back home with the comfort of knowing that Naruto isn't in any trouble.

He heads down the staircase and into the back alley where he could safely navigate his way to the edge of the city without being seen.

It takes him a half hour to make it, but at least he made it. He makes his way up and over the wire barrier and drops to the ground landing on both feet perfectly.

But, he senses something. He can see warm-blooded trails heading up the mountain. It's certainly human. He dismisses it as some kids out on an adventure or something up the 'demon mountain'. He heads to his shrine.

_...::::_

Sakura is halfway through the last class of the day. The bad part, there's a test in this class. The test wasn't difficult, but it was fairly long. Thankfully, she finishes checking over her answers and hands it in with ten minutes left to spare.

The school day is nearly done. She takes out a notebook and begins tapping at the paper with her pencil trying to think of what to sketch. She was just in the mood to.

She recalls from her dream, the fox. She could remember what it looked like crystal clear. She starts off by drawing the head and the rest of the body just flowed right in. She examines it. It's only a rough sketch, it doesn't look much. It'll take her a while to get all the litte details in. But, she was able to shave off eight minutes of the time.

She is reminded of the homework she was given and instantly feels despair. She may not look it, but she's really looking forward to being with Naruto again. Ever since that first kiss, she's felt an overwhelming attachment to the blonde. She thought she loved him with all her heart at first, but now she actually feels her heart tug every time his name comes in her mind. She knows it's real. And summer is just around the corner, which she's also looking forward to as well.

The bell rings signaling that the students are dismissed from school. She walks casually, trying to hold in her relief and excitement. She exits the building and goes home to finish her homework. Naruto is going to have to wait.

_...::::_

A couple hours have passed and the sun is starting to go down.

Naruto has always enjoyed watching sunsets. But having Sakura by his side would've made the whole thing much better.

Naruto is already not liking the humans' school system. It's totally different from the demon education system. It was simple, they taught you what you needed; how to cook, how to garden, how to make a house, etiquette, and that was the complete first course. The second course was how to live with humans and Naruto, at the time, disregarded that course as useless.

He's getting increasingly worrisome of his shrine. What's going on at it while he's out enjoying himself in the city? Then again, this isn't the first time he left his shrine for a day so it's fine.

He has wandered throughout most of the city, but all he was longing for was to be with Sakura. It's funny how he is surrounded by crowds of people and yet still feel lonesome. He wants to hang around the city to see the lights once more before the day ends. But to kill a bit of time, he swallows his fear and heads to the park.

When he reaches the park he sees younger people around now. Does this mean that school is over? He continues his peaceful stroll down the paved sidewalk. Down the line, he can see the younger females violating him with their eyes. He feels a wave of embarrassment overcome him. He just avoids eye contact and walks normally.

As he continues down the pathway, he comes to a familiar spot. He remembers arriving to this spot the first time he came to the city. He looks over to the left and, sure enough, the tree and the boys are there only a couple meters away. He doesn't know what to do with them.

The one with the ponytail takes notice to Naruto. "Hey, Naruto!" Naruto looks toward him. The teen gets off his seat on top of the tree and walks to Naruto. He makes it to him. "Yo, um, I know we didn't get on the best of terms the other day. I'd like to introduce myself." He puts his hand out for a handshake. "I'm Nara Shikamaru."

Naruto accepts the handshake. "Well nice to meet you Naru-san."

"Come on, just call me Shika." Naruto smiles at his friendliness.

The chubby boy and the boy with the dog arrives behind Nara-san. "We'd like to make your acquaintance, too." The rotund one says. "I'm Akamichi Choji."

The large dog barks happily at Naruto. The boy to the side of the dog pets its head. "I came because Akamaru seems to take a liking to you. Name's Kiba by the way."

Naruto is very happy to be meeting these people. He rarely meets new people so this feels like a blessing to him. "Pleased to meet you both. It would seem as you guys already know who I am. But I'd like to know how. How did I get so popular so quickly?"

Choji puts a hand behind his head. "Well, uh, let's just say that rumors spread real quick around here."

Naruto puts up a smile. "I guess so." The dog that Naruto assumes is Akamaru barks once more. Do to his canine intuition, he can see that Akamaru is pleased to meet him. Naruto pets Akamaru the way he saw Kiba do so. Akamaru calms down when he pets him. He feels a rush of comfort envelope him. "Well aren't you a rowdy one. Akamaru wasn't it?"

Kiba doesn't mind Naruto at all. "Yep. I've known him for almost my whole life."

Naruto is shocked by this. "You mean that he's in his teens?!"

Kiba doesn't look too surprised but still smiles. "Yeah, but it he doesn't show any signs of leaving this world just yet. If anything, he's still young."

Naruto's eyes are still wide. "Amazing." He notices that there are still other boys at the tree. "So, Shika, who're they?"

Shikamaru looks back. "Oh those are some more of our friends. Come on, I'll show you to them." Shikamaru takes the boys to the tree to introduce Naruto to the others.

_...::::_

Sakura is nearly finished with her homework. Some of the work she's doing isn't even due until the end of the week, but she wants to be rid of her work as soon as possible. Her week-long homework routine; Get done early, then check later. It's her most effective routine.

She chooses to take a brake. She gets out of her seat and out of the room to grabs a drink from the kitchen fridge. A nice cold bottle of iced tea. She also takes advantage of her time and stretches out and lets out a good bit of stress. She takes the iced tea with her to her room. Her room is nice and clean. At least that takes a burden off her shoulders.

She wants to get back to her work, but she has a feeling in her that's eating at her heart. She usually goes ahead but this time she just decides to do what was assigned.

She has to see Naruto.

_...::::_

Naruto about to spar with the bushy brows from the other day. The two actually got along, but Lee, bushy brow's name, happens to be a black belt in several martial arts and is extremely conditioned. The get ready on the grass top.

Naruto puts up a stance and Lee swings a kick at him. For a human, he's fast, but Naruto can see the attack from a mile away and readjusts himself to dodge. Naruto realizes from his previous encounter that he could wear his opponent down by letting his attacker throw attacks while Naruto simply dodges them.

Lee turns back instantly and barrages Naruto with everything he has. Naruto resorts to blocking. "Damn, you're fast."

Lee halts his barrage to recollect himself, which he does rather quickly. "Thanks, but I can't land a decent hit on you."

Lee throws another punch at Naruto with his right fist. Naruto, knowing exactly what he's doing, steps forward allowing the fist to pass behind him and hooks his left foot behind Lee's right leg and places his hand on Lee's chest and flips him backwards onto the grass. Naruto finishes it off with a hand placed at Lee's throat. "I win." Naruto says.

Lee is still trying to take in what just happened. Lee then looks up at Naruto and accepts defeat. "I guess you did." Naruto helps Lee back up on his feet. "But you know what this means right? I will now make it my goal to defeat you someday."

Naruto is happy to see such a tenacious spirit in today's youngsters. Man, that makes him feel old.

Naruto sees that the sky is staring to turn shades of red. And Naruto hears a voice that makes him skip a beat. "Hey, guys! *Gasp* Naruto!" Naruto turns around. It's Sakura! Naruto is instantly wrapped in Sakura's arms. Naruto hears a head steam up from behind him. Naruto can only feel absolute joy for seeing his true love after a whole day of wandering.

"Sakura-chan! I missed you. What took you so long?" Naruto asked.

Sakura's head comes out of his chest. "Sorry, Naruto. I had homework so I couldn't come right away."

Naruto instantly forgives her. "That's fine. You had work to do. Besides, I think I made friends with a few of your fellow school goers just now."

Sakura looks over to see her classmates. "Are you guys treating Naruto okay?" She walks over to Shikamaru and whispers in his ear. "If you don't treat Naruto kindly, I'll pop your cherry." she says threateningly. Shikamaru's face shows fear and sighs. Naruto eavesdropped with his superior hearing ability.

Lee gets over to Naruto. His face shows clear anger and sadness. His angry face had streams of tear flowing evenly down his face. "Please tell me the stuff on that blog isn't true!"

Naruto is confused. "What?!" Naruto has no clue what a 'blog' is.

Naruto looks over to Sakura and sees her face is red. "Damn it. I should've remembered that you guy stay up-to-date on that crap." Sakura says.

Shikamaru comes over. "Oh yeah, I should have asked you, Naruto. Are you and Sakura, like, 'together'?"

Naruto is nervous as hell. He has no idea what they are speaking of. He hears Sakura sigh and looks toward her to see if she'll help him out. "Yes. We are." she says. She sounded defeated. But Naruto lets out a sigh of his own in relief.

The next thing Naruto hears is the sound of a crying Lee. Choji goes to Lee to comfort him.

Sakura goes and stands by Naruto's right side. Naruto feels very comfortable like this. With her at his side, it's like she is supposed to be there. "Naruto and I... are a couple."

He now understands what they are talking about. "Oh, you guys wanted to know if we were going together. Well, we are." He puts his arm around his lover's right shoulder and pulls her in closer to him. Sakura's face flushes a bright pink. He has always loved her blushing face. It's adorable!

Kiba puts his hand on his waist. "Heh, the most sought after girl in our school, and a boy that she just met in the mountains three days ago is who she falls for. What a tale that is." Akamaru barks as if to say that he understands. Kiba pets him.

A loud and obnoxious noise comes from Shikamaru's pocket. He reaches in and pulls out a phone and answers it. "Hello, Mom." He flinches away from the phone. "Okay, Mom. I'll be home in a sec." He presses a button and puts it back into his pocket. "Well, looks like my mom wants me to be home now. I don't want know what will happen if I don't listen to her. Seeya!" Shikamaru waves a hand and walks out if the park.

Choji's stomach starts to rumble. "Hehe, I'm gonna go home, too. I know better than anyone what that sound means. Bye." Choji turns around and heads out of the park as well.

Sooner or later, everyone leaves except Naruto and Sakura. Now, Naruto is where he wants to be. Alone with Sakura. The sky is now several shades of stunning colors as the sun sets itself under the horizon. The sunset looks much more beautiful from his view on the mountain.

He feels Sakura slip her arm wrap around his own arm. This sends chills of pleasure down his spine. They walk together with their arms intertwined in the sunset. After walking around looking for a place to sit, they come across the same bench where Naruto and Sakura officially became a couple. Naruto allows Sakura to take a seat before he sits down.

After several minutes of silence, Naruto decides to break the silence along with his burning curiosity. "So how's school like?"

Sakura shifts her head to look at Naruto in the eye. "What do you mean?"

Naruto tries to clarify himself. "I mean, what is school like around here. I've never received an education around this city. What is it like? How are the people?"

Sakura searches her mind. "Well, it's not anything special. We go, we learn, we do work, we leave. Nothing much." She tries to extend her answer. "The people that attend are, I guess, special in their own way. Many are nice, like you." She pokes Naruto in the chest. Naruto puts on a goofy grin. "But some... aren't so much."

Naruto starts to feel worried. "What? Who? Do they hurt you?"

Sakura flinches a bit. "What? No. Trust me, I can defend myself if they try to do anything stupid." She puts a fist up and places her hand over her bicep.

Naruto is slightly excited to see her being like this. "Yeah, but if you have any problems, you'd tell me right?"

Sakura rests her head on Naruto's shoulder. "Of course. I trust you more than anything."

Naruto looks up at the sky. The light is fading away. The city lights are turning on.

Sakura rustles her head into Naruto. "We should get going. My mom wouldn't like me being late again." She doesn't take her head off. "But I don't want to leave you."

Naruto's heart tugs. "I know. Neither do I." They enjoy and indulge in each other's presence for another minute.

Sakura then raises herself off of the bench and Naruto follows her lead. Sakura lands a plain kiss on Naruto's lips. Naruto gladly returns the loving gesture. And almost as soon as it starts, it stops. Sakura swings her arms around his neck and pulls him in. "Until next time, Naruto. I love you."

Naruto returns her hug as well. "I love you too, Sakura-chan."

They release and Sakura hesitantly steps back and makes her way away from Naruto. She turns around and starts walking away. She stops to turn around and wave bye. Naruto waves back then starts walking back towards the mountain.

_...::::_

Naruto makes his way back up the mountain. Today was... new. He met new people, made new friends. One hell of a day. He hopes that his shrine was fine while he was gone.

As he grows closer to where his shrine is, he sees a smoke pillar plume towards the dark sky. He starts to worry.

His fox nose can smell... people! People are here! He runs towards his home. He sprints as fast as his human legs could go.

When he makes it, he sees three men throwing glass bottles of fire at his shrine. His shrine is engulfed in yellow and orange flames! His mind races but his heart gives into rage. "What!?"

The three men turn around with shocked expressions. "Shit! It's him!" They try to flee the scene.

Naruto's inhuman speed catches up to them in no time at all. He takes to by the head and pummels them into nearby trees. They are instantly knocked out. The last one is scared senseless and tries to keep running. Naruto feels no mercy and grabs the final culprit by his shirt and pulls him in and slams him into the dirt. Naruto grabs his throat to restrain him. "Why?!"

The guy is still confused. "Huh?"

This adds to Naruto's anger. "Why would you burn my home?!"

The man has beads of sweat on his forehead. "I... I... I was... j... just following orders. Bocchan told me to do it! Please don't hurt me!"

Bocchan? Does he mean Arata? "Who is your bocchan?"

The guy's fear mounts. "I'm just the new guy! I just joined the Sasaki clan!"

Sasaki. Sasaki Arata. That bastard. Naruto raised him in the air and sets him down. Naruto makes a palm and hits him in the back of the neck and knock him out as well.

His eyes turn from bright red the dark crimson and the whiskers on his cheeks grow. He can smell the scent of where they came from. "Sasaki. You're gonna pay for this."

**Sixth chapter! Hallelujah! 阿弥陀佛! Sorry for the super late chapter! But now I have school to deal with and AP classes are involved. I will try to fit in as much time to write and continue this story. Remember to review and favorite my story! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter seven! Sorry if this took a long time to be released as well. I had five projects to work on. Yeah, five. But I finished now and I can continue writing! Remember to support me and my story! And for anyone who has ideas for a fanfic that I should do in the future, put the idea in the reviews.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The characters and storyline belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

Naruto is blind to everything around him. His thoughts are clouded to the point that he no longer cares for the life of Arata. His blood boils and he clenches his fists. His crimson eyes allow him to see the scent trail.

An evil red-orange aura surrounds his entirety. He releases his fist and his nails extend to claws. His thick whiskers darken as he can't keep well ahold of his human form.

He can wait no longer. He vanishes from the scene leaving the ashes of his once home and the culprits behind.

_...::::_

The scents led him somewhere beyond the city. There are absolutely no people around. It's safe to search around.

Naruto nears a large building. It has a traditional Japanese entrance and a modern looking building behind it. There were walls around the perimeter and guards at every entrance.

Naruto stays away from the building and searches the scents that are in the air. And there it is. He senses Arata's presence within the apparent headquarters inside the modern building.

Now there is nothing stopping him. He nears one of the entrances. As he grows near, one of the two guards on duty puts his hand out with his palm out. "Halt! You must be lost, boy. No one is allowed around here."

Naruto ignores his warning and continues towards the entrance. The guard keeps his hand out. "Hey, stop!" Naruto closes in on the guard. The guard resorts to stopping Naruto with a placed palm on the chest. Naruto stops but he smells something burning. The guard quickly pulls his hand back and screams. His hand is burnt red by Naruto's aura. "SHIT! My hand!"

Naruto's voice is low. "Where is Arata?"

The other guard is amazed and terrified at what happened. "What?"

Naruto grabs the collar of the guard's suit. The collar quickly turns to ashes on contact. Naruto is still not used to this. It only added to his frustration. "Where. Is. Arata?" The guard refuses to answer. "Tell me now!" Naruto's slit eyes dilate.

The guard reaches into his clothing and pulls out a piece of metal. Naruto doesn't know wha it is but he suspects it to be a weapon. The guard points the end with the hole at Naruto and pulls lever. Instantly, a small piece of metal, faster than Naruto could see, flies out of the weapon. It hits Naruto in the gut and penetrates through his clothes, but not his skin. He flinches at the sting it causes him.

Naruto sucks it up and looks at the guard, who is in shock. "No... blood."

Naruto is fed up with it. He believes that they are stalling him. Well, not for long. Naruto takes advantage of his superhuman speed and double lariats both the guards inside the confined walls. The force of the impact smashes the ground where the guards land. Everyone notices and perceives a threat. Naruto hears a bell sound off. This must be their alarm system.

Many more guards surround him with larger pieces of metal with tubes in them and point them at him. They are everywhere, the floor, the balconies, the roofs. Naruto has nowhere to run. The alarm stops.

Then, something catches his attention. Arata. He turns his head to a second floor balcony and sees him looking down on Naruto from above. Naruto's fury returns. Arata crosses his arms. "What do you think you're doing here, mountain boy?"

Naruto's anger reaches a new high. "Why would you destroy my shrine?!" Naruto's aura bursts larger. His intensified eyesight can see Arata sweating. Naruto points a clawed finger at him. "You are gonna pay!"

Arata, out of frustration, yells. "Get him outta my sight!" Almost immediately, the weapons fired rapidly. Naruto could barely take it all. The stinging pain was getting to him. But his anger grew along with his pain.

He fights off the pain and blindly lunges towards a group of guards and puts two of them into the ground. But the volley of metal kept coming. His anger amassed to something new. He can't hold him human form much longer. His aura turns into flames surrounding him. The volley stops. "You made me do this!"

His red-orange fur sprouts back out. The long tails extends outward. The canine snout protrudes, his head becomes a fox head, and he's standing on all fours. He is in his kitsune form. He looks around to all of the shocked faces. "I am Naruto! The Kitsune of Akuma no Yama!"

The aura he emits is horrifying. Everyone around him, even Arata, is trembling. "A... kitsune?..." He takes a step back in fright. His mind only knows to be furious at him. "How am I..., the heir to the Sasaki clan,... trembling to a fox?" He puts on a facade to look unscathed. "Everyone! Kill him!"

Naruto's aura disperses everywhere knocking everyone in the vicinity to the ground. He takes the initiative and pounces towards a couple of dazed guards and took them out with claws to the gut. He takes his claws out of the bodies and shakes some of the blood off. The guards spring back into action with their weapons and open fire once more.

The stinging impacts forces Naruto to bust his way through the building to escape. To his surprise, there were men indoors in case he made it through the other guards. But instead of the projectile shooting weapons, they resorted to the old fashioned blades. Naruto sadistically grins as a guard with a katana charges and lands a slash over Naruto's back. The blade snaps like a twig and the blade made a very minor cut on Naruto. He shows off another ability, the cut instantly repairs itself as if the cut never happened.

The other three guards, though scared, stick to their orders and try to attack Naruto. He sees the attack instantly. He sees no use in defending himself in his position and leaps towards the attackers and cleanly takes his claws in and out of all three of them. Everyone in the room watches as their subordinates slump to the floor in bloody corpses.

It is clear that the other men are talking to each other, but Naruto is oblivious to everything except what's in front of him. The image of his burned home returns to him and rekindles his rage. He turns and leaps at the nearest guard to him and slashes at his gut effectively disemboweling him. He too falls dead.

He smells more guards in the next room. He knows the quickest way to Arata's room is to climb to it outside. But the weapons that spit metal are keeping him from that. He decides that the only way to Arata is to fight his way to him.

He tears the doors down and growls. One way or another, he will receive his vengeance.

_...::::_

Sasuke senses an energy that he hasn't felt in a long time. It's Naruto. But not the usual Naruto. He follows to the start of the trail. When he makes it, nearby he sees where Naruto's house used to stand. It is all ashes except for the few burnt pillars that still stood. He can sense the presence of humans have been here not too long ago.

"Naruto's house was burned?!" He looks around again sees Naruto's trail. It is filled with malice. "I have to find him."

Sasuke frantically slithers off to find Naruto.

_...::::_

Naruto has cleared out a third room. There are bodies lying everywhere, on the floor, on the furniture, even some in the wall and hanging on the chandeliers. Fresh blood gave the walls a new shade of dark red. The walls have claw scratches on them. The doors are unhinged or completely broken down.

Naruto has blood covering his claws with bits of flesh hanging from the ends.

More guards stand in his way. They are obviously scared but are foolishly obedient. He utters a low growl then lashes out at the guard in the very front disarming him then dismembers the right arm. The guard cries in shock and pain and Naruto savors the sound. But his thirst won't be quenched until he hears Arata make his own bloodcurdling scream.

He proceeds to the next victims with pleasure.

_...::::_

Sasuke is hot on Naruto's trail. He pants frantically. "I hope you haven't done anything stupid, Teme!"

When he realizes that he's growing near, he reverts to his human form and continues on foot. He senses the presence of humans. Sasuke flicks his tongue in the air and can taste something familiar and metallic. This worries him greatly.

As he arrives to a large building, he runs straight in through the entrance and looks around. His worst fears come true. There are bodies scattered around the area and blood stained the floors and walls. Sasuke has seen his fair share of killing, but even this made him sick to his stomach.

He senses Naruto inside of the building and rushes after him.

_...::::_

Naruto has finally made it. The guards have all been killed, mortally wounded, or fled the area. All that was left was Arata.

The room that Arata was seeking refuge in was barricaded by everything in the room in front of the door. Naruto can't any longer. He swipes the door with his paw and it opens with ease sending every barricade object flying and smashing against the room wall.

Arata is cowering before Naruto. Naruto reverts to his human form, but his eyes stay dark crimson, his fangs protrude from the mouth, and his cheek whiskers are thick.

Naruto, with his clawed hands, picks the scared-shit-less Arata by the collar of his shirt and lifts him above the ground. "Before you receive your retribution, you will tell me why you did it."

Arata's facial expressions tell everything. He knows what Naruto wants to know. To Naruto's surprise, a sly smile spreads across the once terrified face of the Sasaki. "Hehe. You know, you're a kitsune and all that. But what if Sakura were to find out? Would she still love you?"

Naruto feels as if something sharp had hit his heart. He drops Arata to the ground with a thud. Naruto grabs his chest. The pain was too real. This kindles his anger. This time, he grabs Arata by the neck and pins him to the wall. "Quit messing around with me and answer! Why did you do it?!"

"Naruto, stop!" a familiar voice says from behind. Naruto turns to see Sasuke. "Naruto, let him go." he say trying to calm him down.

Naruto looks at Arata and back at Sasuke. "No, Teme. He's the one responsible for burning my shrine. My home! I can't let that go unpunished."

Sasuke takes a few steps forward. "Naruto, I understand how you feel. But this won't solve anything." He puts his guard up.

Naruto feels provoked to attack his own friend. "Teme, you should stay out of this." Naruto turns to Arata and raises his hand to execute him. He is about to deliver the killing blow until he feels something holing him back from the kill. He looks to see that there is a scaly tail wrapped around his wrist. He looks at Sasuke to see that he transformed into his snake form just in time to save Arata. Naruto is angered that he wasn't able to kill his target so he directs himself towards his friend. Naruto throws Arata to the ground then charges towards Sasuke with an animalistic fury.

Sasuke resorts to coiling around Naruto to stop his movements. Naruto whips himself back and forth and tries to find a way out, to no avail. "Naruto, stop!" Naruto refuses to comply and continues squirming. Sasuke slithers quickly outside and makes it to the courtyard. "Naruto, look around you!"

Naruto stops and looks around him to see the dozens of dead bodies laying around. Some were thrown out of the building and are hanging on banisters. Blood splattered on the floors and walls with chunks of his victims' flesh and innards out or hanging off the body.

Naruto is appalled at the sight. His whiskers return to normal and his crimson eyes return to his normal shade of ocean blue. "What... i-is this?" He feels as if his eyes deceive him. The sight is so surreal, it horrifies him. His stomach feels sick. He tries to look away, but he can't stop looking at the horror. "Did I do this?"

Sasuke lets out a dull rumble. "It seems like it. Though, I don't think it was truly you that did it." He loosens his grip on Naruto.

Naruto drops to his knees as he looks at his bloodied hands. "How could I?" He takes another look at the massacre. "Is my anger really worth this?" Naruto feels warm tears go down his cheeks. He still can't believe he did this. This was all because of a house? Is his home more important than these men's live's? These were someone else's sons he just killed. The tears continue to come down as the thought of crying parents come to mind.

Sasuke puts the end of his tail over Naruto's shoulder. "Let's go back Naruto. Forget about that guy. You made that shrine before, you can build it again. But, this time. I'll help you out. What do you say?"

Naruto lets all of his malice escape him. He wipe away a few tears. He ponders for a moment. "Okay, I'll forgive him for now. But, I won't forget him." Naruto stands himself up.

Suddenly, Arata comes walking out and looking at the lifeless bodies of his guards. "The hell." Another sly smile forms. "You'll have a lot of explaining to do when I tell Sakura of this." He tries to run away.

"Oh, no you don't." Sasuke whips his tail around Arata's neck forcing him to stop moving. He then brings the coward to him to see him face to face. Sasuke's stare worries Arata greatly. Naruto watches curiously, wondering what Sasuke is up to. Sasuke then blows lightly on Arata. He squirms a bit, then his eyes droop until his eyes shut.

Naruto is still confused even after seeing what happened. "Um, what did you do?"

Sasuke returns to his human form and Arata's body flops to the ground. "Ahh, nothing. He just asleep is all." Sasuke then places a hand over Arata's forehead. He inhales deeply and removes his hand revealing a snake mark on Arata's forehead. The mark then slowly fades away.

Naruto is even further puzzled. "Now, what was that?"

Sasuke stands up. "A little trick I learned a while ago. He should forget about what happened in the past two days."

Naruto is amazed at this. "Wow, that must come in handy."

Sasuke snickers. "Yeah, you've no idea." He looks back down at Arata. "So what do you think we should do with him?"

Naruto didn't even think twice about it. He grabs Arata and drags him and sets him down in the middle of the courtyard where all of the dead bodies are scattered. "There. That should scare the living shit outta him when he wakes up." He looks at Sasuke with a content smile. "Come on, let's go home."

Naruto and Sasuke leave the scene without looking back. They split and go to Sasuke's house for the night. Sasuke has another room for unexpected guests. Sasuke goes to his room and Naruto makes himself comfortable in the temporary room. Naruto flops into the futon

_...::::_

The next morning, Naruto opens his eyes to the sound of a bloodcurdling scream. Naruto smiles with much content. He had received his wish.

_...::::_

Sakura is shaken by the sound of a bloodcurdling scream. This is some hell of a way to start out her weekday morning.

**Seventh chapter! Yes! I tried to make something violent in the spirit of Halloween! Today is also my birthday! I'm sixteen years old now! Anyhow, I know this doesn't make up for how long it took for this to come out. But, I will diligently work on this story with every chance I can get! I promise. Please read and review and if you have any ideas for future stories, feel free to PM me or leave the ideas in the reviews! Didn't I already mention that? Whatever. Until next time! -Noshi**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter eight. Hallelujah! I'm trying my honest best at trying to keep writing. I really am, but school is being a real hindrance to me now more than ever. But, I promise that I will not let any story be forgotten. **

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Naruto. The characters and storyline belong to Masashi** Kishimoto.

Naruto wakes up to a very satisfying morning. He notices that he went back to his fox form overnight once again. He stretches his legs out and reacquaints himself with his temporary room. He knows what is to come in the next few days or weeks or so. He sets a new mental goal for himself. Rebuild the shrine. He gets out of his futon and exits the room. To his surprise, Sasuke is already up in his human form. There are tools around him.

Sasuke turns around. "Mornin', Naruto!" He grabs a hammer and hands it to Naruto. "I said that I will help you today. And I'm not going back on my word, ya' hear me?"

Naruto's heart warms at his sympathy as he turns into a human again. "Thanks, buddy." Naruto takes the hammer and makes his way to the site of his once home.

_...::::_

Sakura is walking on her way to the subway station with her book bag slung over her shoulder. She woke up slightly early today, thanks to an unexpected, scary-sounding scream of death.

She makes her way through the subway station. It's all part of her usual commute to the high school. She actually made it early today. The train hasn't even showed up yet and the station is full of other students waiting for the bus as well. She finds a suitable bench and takes a seat.

She yawns a bit and sets her book bag on her lap. She has a nagging feeling in her gut to Naruto's home for some reason. She just knows that there is something wrong happening there.

"Forehead? You're here early." Ino's voice is heard.

Sakura smiles to her. "I woke up early. Don't ask why."

Ino makes herself comfortable next to Sakura. Sakura scoots a bit to make room. She lets out a yawn. "Aah..., it's days like this that make me wish that school didn't start so early." She pauses for a second. She questions something. "I wonder where Naruto goes to school? He lives in the mountain but he doesn't seem uneducated. In fact, he's the most formal person I've ever met. It's like he's from the old times like we learn about in the textbooks when people were very tradition bound and stuff, ya'know?"

Ino tucks her hair behind her left ear. "Speaking of Naruto and the mountain, did you see the pillar of smoke that reached the sky that came from the forest in the mountain?"

Sakura is unexpectedly hit with the question. She was unaware that anything like that was happening. "What? When was this?"

Ino recalls that moment. "Around ten-thirty last light."

Sakura recalls that she was already in bed before a couple hours before ten-thirty. There was no way she was going to stay up that late when there is school the next day. "Wait, you saw stayed up that late and still managed to wake up bright and early for school?"

Ino nods. "Yup!"

Sakura raises an eyebrow and shakes her head in disbelief. "And yet you still seem more well rested than I do. I will never understand."

Ino then starts rummaging through her book bag. "Oh, and can I copy your math homework we were supposed to do last night? It's the only thing I haven't finished."

Sakura isn't surprised at all by this but is instead she is mildly disappointed at Ino. "Why were you talking to me when you could have been finishing your homework? Or, the better question, Why did you stay up so late and didn't finish you're homework?"

Ino pulls out the paper. "Because I just remembered it. Now can you let me copy?"

Ino looks at Sakura with pleading eyes. Sakura looks and sees the subway approaching. She makes a nonchalant expression and points to the incoming subway. "Uhm, Our ride's here."

Ino slumps down. "Arg, darn it!"

The subway stops and opens its doors letting the students board. Sakura and Ino make their way into the train and find something to hold on to. The doors close and a half minute later the train is going. About three minutes later, they reach their destination and everyone neatly exits the train (or at least everyone in her car came out neatly).

Sakura and Ino get out. "So are you gonna let me see your homework? Please, please, please!?"

Sakura gives in. "Ugh, fine. I'll let you see it when we get to homeroom."

Ino smiles and shows more spring in her step. "Oh, thank you Sakura! You're a life saver."

As they walked their way to their first period, Sakura receives attention from almost everyone she walks past. More attention than usual. The men give her a look as if they've never seen her before and the girls don't seem to be too happy to see her. Very odd.

She tries her best to ignore them but the curiosity is killing her. "Hey, Ino?" she whispers, "Why're they looking at me like that?"

Ino looks around to see what she means. "I've got no clue. Did you make them mad somehow?"

Sakura raises her eyebrows. "I don't know."

They make it to homeroom get to their assigned seats. Sakura digs through her binder to find last night's math homework. At first sight of the paper she slides it out and walks to Ino and gives it to her to get copy down. Ino thanks her one more time and Sakura waits for Ino to give it back after copying. Ino gives the paper back after about a minute and Sakura takes it and returns to her seat. The homeroom teacher, Kakashi-sensei, enters the room a couple minutes late to class as usual. "Okay, everyone. Take last night's homework out."

_...::::_

Naruto and Sasuke finish setting the first pillar up. Naruto is very grateful that the floor and basic foundation stayed somewhat intact. He looks over to see Sasuke sitting for a quick break. One thing is for damn sure, it would've taken a lot longer if Sasuke wasn't helping. That's something else to be grateful to.

Naruto walks to the wooden planks and picks them up and sets them out of the way. He looks around the leftovers of the shrine and sees burnt wood scattered around the entrance floor. Naruto reverts to his fox form and swipes his tail like a duster. Better to be on the dirt than the floor of his home. Besides it makes good mulch.

Sasuke stands back up and grabs the wood planks that Naruto set away. "Let's make the next pillar."

Naruto goes into his human form. "Yeah."

_...::::_

Sakura is sitting in her seat in Kakashi-sensei's physics class. She takes a quick glance at the clock on top of the room door. Great, three minutes left. Kakashi-sensei finishes up his lesson and picks up a stack of papers from his desk. "Here's you're assignment for tonight. As always, it's due tomorrow and I encourage you to work with each other." He stands next to the door as the bell rings. He hands the homework out as his students walk out of the door. Sakura ended up being last in line, but she eventually takes her paper. "Oh, Haruno. Good luck with the boyfriend."

Sakura is surprised as well as confused. "Thanks?", she says reluctantly. She leaves the room and goes to her next class. When she enters, she takes her seat and notices that she's receiving more looks than usual. She tries ignoring them, but she's a very curious girl and her curiosity is eating away at her. Wait. Good luck with her boyfriend, unusual looks. It's obviously Ino's blog. She sighs in embarrassment. Is her relationship with Naruto really this interesting to others? This is not what she wanted in a relationship. She needs to remember to scold Ino later.

Everyone takes their seats as Kurenai-sensei walks into the classroom. She is on time unlike Kakashi-sensei. The teacher's entrance signals everyone to head to their desks and get prepared while she takes attendance. Kurenai-sensei is strict yet she can be kind. She finishes taking attendance. "Okay, everybody. Pass your homework up." Sakura and the rest of the class follow their instruction and the student in the front of each row collects the papers of their respective rows and hands them to Kurenai as she passes by.

Sakura gets the feeling that this is going to be a long day.

_...::::_

Naruto, for the first time in the year, feels tired. Sasuke doesn't seem to be in any better shape either. Naruto takes another deep breath and then stands back up. He looks around to see what they have accomplished today; one and a half pillars completed and the floor is clear of ashes. It's alright for a start of fixing up the place.

Naruto walks over to Sasuke and gives him a hand to stand up. "Looks like we could use a break."

Sasuke twists his back and the popping of vertebrae are heard. "Ahh..., what happened to all that energy you always had?"

Naruto chuckles. "I don't know either. But, I still have an unfinished house so if you feel the need to check on you're home go ahead. I'm staying to make sure nothing happens to my shrine."

Sasuke wasn't about to refuse that offer. "Yeah I'm gonna go. I'll be back as soon as possible." He reverts into a snake and disappears in to the wooded area. When Naruto can't see Sasuke anymore he flops his body on the floor and sighs. He needs this relaxation time. He, for the first time today, he sees that the flowers of the trees have started to blossom. The dancing colors are always a pleasant sight.

He also decides to take advantage of this time to reflect. He looked around his house and into the woods. It's hard to believe that so much has happened in the last few days. It's turning out to be quite an adventure. "I wonder what it feels like from Sakura's point of view?" he asks himself. Then, a thought strikes him. How is he going to explain the damage done to the shrine to his dear Sakura-chan?! The thought instantly gives him the determination to continue fixing the place up. He can't let Sakura see the shrine like this.

He starts out by getting his bum off of the floor and taking out all of the wood in the ceiling that needs to be replaced. One by one, splinter by splinter, the broken, burnt wood was getting removed. Once the living quarters were rid of the broken planks Naruto is off the his room. Naruto took care to not get pricked by the small, jagged splinters that riddled the wood. But alas, his hand is already stinging like hell by three splinters on the palm of his right hand. He pulled the splinters out painfully, but quickly. The small holes bled lightly, but Naruto has always been a fast healer so this is nothing to him. He continues on his task of broken wooden plank removal. He chooses diligence over hastiness. He has to make his house in tip-top shape.

_...::::_

Lunch time. Finally. Sakura has been suffering with a stomach that won't shut up. She forgot to eat breakfast this morning or rather she was in a hurry because she was running late. Never mind that, she needs to eat!

She enters the cafeteria and gets in line. She waits for a mere two minutes and she takes today's lunch which is none other than curry. She gladly pays the cashier her three hundred yen then goes to a table. Since she's the first at the table she chooses to relieve her stomach of its nagging and takes a bite of the curry. Thankfully it isn't spicy today.

Ino arrives shortly and takes her seat next to Sakura. Ino is welcomed by a thump to the forehead. "Ah! What is that for?!"

Sakura swallows her curry. "For putting my personal life on your blog. It's _you're_ blog. It should be about _you._ Not me."

Ino rubs her forehead. "Ah, so what? Just because I put you and your boyfriend on my blog, you thump me? You should be thanking me! Now all of the guys that you say are annoying will leave you alone."

Sakura is still unconvinced. "Okay. Now that they are leaving me alone, leave me and Naruto alone." She takes another bite.

Ino crosses her arms. "It's my blog. I'll do what I want with it," she said stubbornly.

Sakura doesn't feel like arguing for the moment. The curry is actually pretty good. It's probably only tasty because of how hungry she is. She knows that she shouldn't skip breakfast. But, it's okay if it's only for today right? Tenten is the next to take a seat and sits next to Ino. "Hey, I heard you and that blonde boy are going out."

Sakura sighs, she finally embraces the fact that her first relationship is know common knowledge to the entire student body at Akuma no Yama City High School. "Yes, we are." She shoots an angry look at Ino. "And it's your fault why everyone knows."

Ino smirks which only manages to piss Sakura off even more. Hinata makes her way to the table.

Ino starts eating her lunch. She swallows then continues speaking. "So, Sakura, are you planning to take your Naruto to the Hanami festival? The cherry blossoms are about to bloom for the viewing."

Hanami?! The flower viewing?! She had always wanted to see the flowers from the trees in the mountain. They always look see pretty from afar. "I'll just think about it tonight. Just let me eat, I'm hungry."

The other girls continue to talk and gossip while letting Sakura eat her lunch in peace. They don't realize that Sakura is deep in thought.

_...::::_

Naruto is not letting his shrine look unsightly. But his virtues of patience and diligence keep his hastiness in check. In just a few short minutes, he was able to finish reconstructing and setting up another pillar and replace some of the ceiling wood. He's even more tired than ever, but that is not going to stop him. He is working on the third pillar of the day. If he can finish the first five pillars today, he will be satisfied.

Sasuke returns refreshed and ready to help. "Whoa! You got back up and running early I see."

Naruto stops working to answer and wipe sweat off of his brow. "Yeah, well I never really took that big of a break."

Sasuke isn't surprised. "Hand me that hammer will ya?" Naruto gladly takes the spare hammer and hands it to his serpent friend. Sasuke heads to the wood planks to help Naruto with the rest of the ceiling that Naruto couldn't finish. He places the plank on the ceiling and places a nail to hammer in. He hammers it in just to hold it in place. He takes another nail and hammers it in as well.

Naruto straightens his back. "You should know how grateful I am that you're helping me."

Sasuke merely smirks at the thank you. "Don't mention it. After all, I owe you one."

Naruto raises an eyebrow. He owed him one? Owed him for what? Whatever, he goes back to trying to set up another pillar.

_...::::_

Sakura is content. Her stomach is no longer a disturbance. She can now go on for the rest of the remaining school day, which is almost over. She gets to her next class. Guy-sensei's Physical education class. Guy-sensei is inhuman, he has more energy than his students and is a fitness freak.

Sakura heads to the changing room. She changes to her gym clothing and heads to the gymnasium where there is Guy-sensei already warming up, as if he ever needed to.

She waits as her classmates come out of the changing room. Everyone lined up to go outside. Guy is at the front as always. "Yeah! Today is a volleyball kind of day!"

Sakura is completely used to being embarrassed to have him as a teacher. But, she knows that she's not the only one that's embarrassed.

Everyone heads outside, following Guy-sensei. Volleyball is her least favorite game. This isn't going to be fun.

_...::::_

Naruto's muscles are starting to give in to the pain. He knows that he's in for a really sore day tomorrow. But it will all be worth it when he has regained his home back. He looks around and comes to am obvious realization. There is no way that the shrine can be complete today, which is to be expected. Naruto decides to stop for a quick break once more.

He lays on the floor and looks through the huge gaping hole in the roof at the afternoon sky. The hottest time of the day and he needs to get work done. Nature is working against him at the moment. His body aches all over. The sweat refuses to stop coming down from his forehead. He closes his eyes and daydreams.

Sasuke sees Naruto resting and decides that Naruto has a good idea and sits on the floor and wipes his forehead. "You done for today?"

Naruto blinks his eyes open. "For now, I am. But I know that we can't finish this today." He sits up and blinks sweat away from his eyes and wipes it away with his arm. "I think we can call it a day, alright?"

Sasuke springs up from sitting. "Finally! I've been wondering if you've been driven by the notion to finish the project in one day. I'm glad that you realize that it's fine for this to go on for several days."

Naruto stands up. "I'm gonna go walk around the mountain. A relaxing walk around nature should help relax my body."

Sasuke yawns and turns back into a snake. "Well, if you need me, I'll be at my shrine taking a nap." Sasuke slithers away.

Naruto inhales the sweet scent of the flowers that surrounded his home. He raises his body up gently and starts his walk. But not around the mountain like he told Sasuke. He's going back to the city. There is still unexplored territory and his fox nature wants to see everything about the human world still. Even after the Arata incident.

He waits until there is no trace of Sasuke and stands up. He takes another breath of the sweet flower blossoms and takes off to the city. First place to go, the park so he can see if the trees over there have bloomed their flowers yet.

_...::::_

Sakura is at her locker getting her belongings together in her bookbag. Surprisingly, she hardly has any homework tonight. She was able to complete most of her homework in Nara-sensei's class.

As she sling the bookbag over her shoulder, her eyes are blank but her mind is deep in thought with what happened at lunch today. What Ino asked about Hanami really struck her mind. Would she go to the lower parts of the mountains to see the flowers with Naruto and her friends or would she go to Naruto's wonderful shrine and enjoy the radiant colors of the flowers in the comfort of being with her love. The choice is pretty obvious to her, she wants be with Naruto in the shrine.

But the festival is taking place this weekend. There will be lots of the festivities that come with the festival. Could she gets him to come with her and the other girls to the festival? He shouldn't have any problem with dressing up to it. He looks rather dashing in his orange yukata. But what would _she_ wear? She going to have to ask her mother if she has any yukatas for her to borrow.

She exits the school building and starts her walk to the park where she can peacefully finish the remainder of her homework.

She crosses the streets and waves to the Ino's mother at the flower shop on her way there. Suddenly, a couple of female students from her school run passed her. They are headed towards the park. She minds nothing of it and continues on her merry way.

As she nears the park entrance, she can see why the girls were running. Several of the park's largest trees have already bloomed their flowers for the world to admire. They were light and radiant shades of pink, just like her hair. She looks at the blossoms and approaches one of the trees. She strokes the pedals with her finger ever so lightly. "So beautiful," she whispers to herself.

She heard another voice say the same thing on the other side of the tree. See looks around the tree to see Naruto looking to the other side of the tree as she is. "Naru-kun?"

Naruto shows his smile. "Appreciating the flowers as I am, huh?"

She smiles back. "Well, of course. These flowers gave me my name." the thoughts of the festival return to her. But she puts it off so she could at least have a little time with Naruto first. She notices Naruto's face look at the flowers with a stern face. "Is there something wrong?"

Naruto shakes his head and looks back at her with another smile. "Oh, nothing. I'm was just thinking about something." She can see that he's trying not to have her worried about something. He's doing a bad job of that. "Really, Sakura-chan, it's nothing. Let's just enjoy the flowers together."

Sakura is slightly worried. "Okay..." She can see that Naruto is worried as well. Naruto is looking at the flowers and gently caresses them with his right hand. She then sees small scabs around his hand. She grabs his hand and examines it fiercely. "What happened to your hands? Are you okay?"

Naruto winces at the pain of his hands. "It's nothing. Just a little splinters."

Sakura takes his hand again and grips it. "I think that you are hiding something from me. Can you please tell me?"

She can clearly see that he is debating in his head. He then looks into her eyes and grips her hand back which sends a surge of warmth through her body. "Okay, I'll tell you." He sighs and sits down on the soft grass and Sakura sits down next to him. She puts her bookbag on her lap and rests her hands over the bag. She looks at him again and sees anguish in his eyes that aren't looking at her's. "My shrine... it got burned."

Sakura's eyes widen. "What?! It got burned? How?"

He looks back at her. "Does it matter how it got burned? I spent most of today trying to rebuild it. I just got a few splinters along the way."

Sakura is satisfied with his answer. "Thank you, Naruto, for being honest."

Naruto smiles. "The fire didn't do as much as I thought it would. I should be finished with the shrine in a few days. Maybe even tomorrow if I'm diligent enough."

In a few days? Finished tomorrow? Does that mean that he can come with her to the festival? Naruto places a hand over her hands. "You seem like your thinking a lot. You want to ask me something more?"

Sakura knows that she shouldn't be nervous asking him to the festival. They _are_ a couple after all. But this is a first for her. Her breathing gets shallow as she searches for the courage within her. She gives up looking for a reason to ask him. "I... uh..." She feels a lump in the back of her throat.

Naruto gives her a reassuring smile. "I can see it in your eyes that you want to ask me something more. I answered your question, now can you tell me what is on your mind?"

Sakura is reluctant to look into Naruto's eyes. She's now worried if Naruto will even consider going with her. She swallows her pride. "T-there's a... festival being held this weekend. My friends and I are going and I would like to... know if you'd like to come with me. Will you?"

She looks into his eyes to see that Naruto's eyes are widening with excitement. "A festival?"

Sakura can hear thumping as the feeling of pressure looms over her heart. "Y-yes." She takes Naruto's hand and raises it up to her face with both hands.

Naruto shows his pearly whites in a large smile. "I'd love to go!" The smile is so contagious that Sakura lets out a smile of her own.

She pulls him in for an embrace. "Really!? Oh, thank you"

Naruto wraps his arms around her. Sakura gazes up at his ocean blue eyes. "I love you," she says sincerely.

Naruto didn't even bother saying it. He pulls her in and locks his lips with her's. Sakura enjoy it as she melts into the kiss.

**I know one thing is for damn sure. This chapter doesn't make up for how long I haven't posted. I give a thousand apologies! I also hit a little writer's block but I finally got the ball rolling. My next chapter will start on a Saturday because that's the day of the festival.**** Let me now if I should go back and rename the chapters and continue naming the chapters. Also let me know what you want Naruto and Sakura to do at the festival.** -Noshi.


	9. Chapter 9

**Awesome! Ninth chapter is here. I've been really busy as of late. Essays, tests, and studying! Oh my! And on top of that, two projects! I wish that I could freeze time to get my bearings together. Well... ninth chapter... here it is. Festival time! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. The characters and storyline both belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

Two hours before the festival starts, Haruno Sakura is in her room.

Sakura gently dons her mother's yukata for the festival this evening. Her mother let her borrow it since it was a special night for her. The yukata is a light pink color with a floral design. It really suits the festival. The yukata hugged her curves very well.

She looks at herself in the mirror. Seeing her in a yukata reminds her of the first time she met Naruto. He was able to pull off the male yukata look. She wonders if he will be going to the festival in his yukata.

She walks out of her room to show her mother the yukata that she is borrowing from her. Her mother's eyes light up with glee and she is bouncing. "Oh, my little cherry blossom! You look so cute in it!"

Sakura looks at herself. "You really think so?"

Her mother walks over to her and places her hands on her shoulders. "Oh my goodness, you remind me of the time your father took me out to the same festival." She straightens her yukata and smooths out some of the wrinkles. "You look as if it was made for you. Whoever this Naruto boy is, he'd better know that he's lucky."

Sakura smiles softly and wraps her arms around her mother. "Thanks, Mom."

The sudden sound of the doorbell broke the hug. Sakura walks over to the door and opens it to see Ino and Hinata, sporting their own yukatas, waiting for her to leave with them.

Sakura looks back at her mother. Her mother just waves for her to go. "Go! You don't want to keep them waiting."

Sakura beams a smile and goes with her friends.

Ino shows off her usual grin. "Hey, Forehead! The boys are waiting for us at the festival!"

Sakura couldn't get mad. She was too excited to be. "Tell me, what is Naruto wearing?"

The three girls start their walking to the festival. Sakura looks back at her mother, who is watching their departure, and waves to her. Ino keeps walking along. "Funny, he actually is wearing the old-fashioned yukata he was wearing when we first met him on the night of the dare."

Sakura's heart skips a beat. The same orange yukata? Oh, now she can't wait to see him.

On the way to the park, where the festival is being held, almost every person Sakura sees is either wearing yukata in many colors and designs and she even saw an older couple in traditional kimonos. Some shops closed for the day so they can sell their goods at the festival.

"Heh, the trees are as pink are your hair!" Ino jokes.

Sakura is taken from looking around the city and turns her head to look at Ino to hear what she said. "What?"

Ino points her index finger to the trees as they pass by them. "Look, it's 'Sakura' day."

Sakura understands the pun in that. It kind of is 'Sakura' day. It is the day of the cherry blossoms.

Sakura looks ahead of her to see the park just up ahead. The park seems to have undergone a transformation. Instead of the mostly green grass and the open fields, they have been replaced by booths and tents for the festival's foods and activities.

Ino starts to speed up her walking. "Come on! They're waiting!" Sakura speeds up to match Ino's speed so she can keep up.

As the distance between them and the festival dwindle, Sakura can see the two boys waiting for them at the edge of the park. She starts to get excited as she can more clearly see Naruto's sunshine hair. As she nears, she can see Naruto walk towards her. He's wearing the same orange yukata he was wearing on the night of their first meeting. And it looks just as good on him as it did that night.

The two love birds make it to each other. Sakura brings her hands up and Naruto holds her hands as they look into each other's eyes. Naruto's lips form a genuine smile. "Wow, hehe, you look amazing tonight."

Sakura's ears are graced by Naruto's sweet words. A shade if red comes on her cheeks. She feels embarrassed, but she doesn't want to look away from his ocean eyes. "Thank you, Naru-kun."

Naruto leads Sakura to the festival. She sees Naruto wave a hand to his friend, Sasuke, who is going to the festival with Ino. The pairs go their separate ways into the festival ahead. Naruto takes a step towards the festival and Sakura follows him staying at his right side. The two stroll towards the hustle and bustle of the people ahead.

Sakura can feel a firm yet gentle hand lightly grab her right shoulder that pulls her closer to the boy-in-orange. She feels warm and safe with him so close to her. Naruto releases a sigh. Sakura turns her head up to look at Naruto. "What was that for?" she says almost teasingly.

Naruto looks all around him. He seems so curious and somewhat playful. "It's nothing much. I've just... never been to a festival like this before. I mean, I've witnessed these kinds of events from my shrine in the mountain, but I've never been able to come to one before."

Sakura is confused by this. "But, you live alone. What was possibly stopping you from coming to something as innocent and fun as a festival?"

Naruto looks down with furrowed brows. He glances into Sakura's eyes which she detects secrecy in. "I don't really know why." But, he hangs his head high once more and the playful nature returns with a smile. "But, that doesn't matter now does it? I'm here now. And best of all, I get to be here with you."

Sakura smiles back upon realizing that he's correct. "You're right. Besides, if you haven't been to a festival before, then I get to show you all the great fun and food there is here! Come on, let's go!" She takes Naruto by the hand and pulls him and he follows. The sounds of people ring in her ears. The smell of the takoyaki stand causes Naruto to stop and Sakura along with him. She regains her balance and looks to Naruto who is sniffing the air for the sweet aroma of the chef making the takoyaki. "What, Naruto? You've never eaten takoyaki before either?"

Naruto looks at her with a shy expression. "Hehe, I can't say I have."

Sakura feels her stomach growl as the delicious aroma tantalizes her olfactories. "You know what? I'll take some takoyaki as well." The couple walk up to the chef's tent and order two servings of takoyaki. The chef compliments them both for looking good together which successfully makes them both blush. The chef gives them each a thick paper tray with six takoyaki balls in each of them. Sakura finds a bench for them to sit and enjoy the their treat. They sit down next to each other and Sakura watches as Naruto takes his first bite.

Naruto hesitates to take his first bite. "What is so interesting?"

Sakura giggles. "It's always interesting to see someone take their first bite of anything. Whether they like it or not, it's always fun to watch."

Naruto shrugs his shoulders and proceeds to take his first bite while Sakura observes intently. Naruto pops a ball into his mouth and chews it. He stops chewing and his eyes widen. His eyelids relax as he resumes chewing. "Mmmmm."

Sakura's face radiates with joy. "See? It's tasty isn't it?" Naruto doesn't speak with a full mouth. He just nods with content. Sakura begins to realize that if Naruto is this fascinated with just takoyaki, then he's going to have one hell of a night.

_...::::_

From a crystal ball in the demon world, the elder demons' concern with the couples in Akuma no Yama City worsen. Gyuki, the ox-octopus demon, is most worried of them all. "This is getting out of hand! Heaven will expel our fellow demons out of the human world if they get any further into their relationship!"

Kurama, the deity of the fox demons, pinches the bridge of his snout between his eyes in frustration. He's conflicted between taking action or letting it go on. "I understand what you mean and I know Heaven's laws. But, what do you suppose we do? I open this question to you all."

Gyuki pounds his fist on the floor in satisfaction. "Finally, you are talking some sense. I say we get them separated and we bring the two radicals back to the demon realm to stay. We can't risk the lives of demons already in the human realm for the happiness of only two!"

Son Goku, the king of the monkey demons, grunts as he nods. "I agree with Gyuki. Unless another idea is put forth that doesn't harm anyone, demon or human, then I shall put forth my vote for Gyuki's idea."

All of the other demons are silent. Even the usually cheerful Chomei isn't speaking out against Gyuki. Chomei is actually understanding of the other demons of the world.

Kurama is the most conflicted. For centuries, he saw to Naruto as if he was his kit until he was old enough to go off and live by himself. He can clearly recall the day he adopted Naruto as a kit after his parents died. His parents saved him from a wildfire in the mountain that is now called Akuma no Yama. Since the parents were good friends with Kurama, Kurama had to take care of their kit since they passed away. It was the least he could do.

He knows that Sakura now means the world to Naruto and that the human girl views Naruto as the same. He couldn't possibly shatter Naruto's young heart like that. He always wanted Naruto to live a happy life, even when Kurama himself wasn't always the happiest guy , the future of all demons are at stake. He hesitantly holds his hand up. "I understand what's on the line. I know what you are concerned of. And for that, I shall agree to your plan."

Gyuki gives a nod and a grunt of content. "Then it's settled. We must take Naruto back to the demon realm tonight." Gyuki sees anger and sorrow in Kurama's eye's. "Now, Kurama. I know thins isn't an easy decision for you. I don't want to hurt the kit as much as you do, but there is too much danger if we let it persist."

Kurama looks at Gyuki with piercing irises. "I will go on with this plan on one condition. I want to bring Naruto by my own terms. I don't trust anyone of you with him. For all I know, you all might cause him more pain than is necessary."

The rest of the eight elders feel shocked by this. never have they seen the powerful Kurama stick up for anyone else like this. The elders nod to Kurama to show that they approve of his decision.

Kurama puffs air through his nostrils. He turns behind him and calls for the presence of the dog demon with silver fur. "You, I need you to go the Akuma no Yama City. Within the festival, there is a kitsune demon that I need incapacitated for me to retrieve him." Kurama hands him nothing to go off of on his mission. " I'm sure you're already familiar with who I speak of, Kakashi?"

The dog morphs himself into a man with tall silver hair that matched his fur. "Understood. This is going to be enjoyable to me. It's been a while since I've seen my student." Kakashi whips out a paper talisman and it teleports him out of the room in a small puff of smoke.

Kurama turns his head to face the rest of the elders. Silence fills the room. The bakeneko, Matatabi, clears his throat. "I will not talk against your decision. You have never done anything rash before." He readjusts his paws to sit more comfortably. "I will, however, stay at the crystal ball's side to keep watch of the situation. You mustn't worry. I will not interfere with anything."

With that being said, all of the elders got up and left the room except for Kurama and Matatabi who stayed behind. Kurama isn't wearing his piercing gaze and is instead showing eyes of worry and Matatabi understands why. "I just want you to tell me if anything goes bad. That is my only favor."

The bakeneko lowers his brows and nods once. Kurama 'hmphs' and takes his leave.

As the fox walks around, he wants to feel assured and hopes that everything will be alright. But, a nagging entity resides behind his heart. He knows that his hopes aren't going to mean much.

_...::::_

Kakashi, in his human form, sets up a tent in the festival. He then puts thick clothes on the help keep Naruto from recognizing his scent. He then puts on a cooking cap on to keeps hair from falling out. Plus, what if Naruto recognizes his silver hair?

He was given the order the incapacitate Naruto. He reaches into his bag of equipment that he will be using on this task and pulls out his secret weapon, a bag of Thai chili peppers. There is nothing more that a kitsune can not stand than eating something spicy. And with something this intense, Naruto would pass out. Thus, mission success.

He has a plan to put these peppers into something that Naruto would never suspect to be spicy. Tea. Kakashi gets out of the tent and sticks a sign in front of the tent that advertises "Okayu and Tea" and then places the menu next to it. He gets back into the tent and begins setting up his work space.

The equipment he brought is a little more than adequate. Teapots, large pots, soup bowls, ladles, plenty of tea leaves, various seasonings fresh fish, umeboshi, and ginger, and large bag of rice. He came prepared as if he is an actual part of the festival. He'd be glad if Naruto took him for the genuine article.

He wonders what Naruto has been up to lately. Does he look different? Is he more mature? The questions of a teacher who hasn't seen a student for years.

He can recall the times when Naruto was his student. Naruto was the most troublesome student he ever had to teach. However, Kakashi never punished Naruto severely only out of heart. One day, Kakashi found Naruto being bullied by bat demons. Kakashi drove the bats away leaving a young, crying fox on his hands. Naruto reluctantly tells that he was being bullied because he is an orphaned child because his parents died before he could remember. From that day on, Naruto was the most hard-working and daring student he has ever had to instruct.

Kakashi has only seen once of what happens when a kitsune eats spicy food. He has heard that it hurts like poison for them. It pains him that he has to put Naruto in pain, but it's for the greater good.

He puts a mask over his mouth and begins fill the teapot and a large pot with water to make the tea and okayu. Just another serving tent among all of the others. But knowing Naruto, he'll come to this tent eventually.

_...::::_

Sakura and Naruto are having an amazing night. The last game Naruto tried out, he won Sakura a huge teddy bear. Naruto said he's never played it before, but his accuracy with a hoop is impeccable.

Sakura has never seen anyone so out of touch with the modern era. Naruto wanted to do everything, see everything, and try all of the food. She thought that Naruto was out of touch with anything modern when he tried ramen for the first time, but Naruto in front of her resembles a kid let loose in a candy shop. Also helps that some of the tents are run by girls that want to give Naruto a taste of what they have to offer. It kind of makes her jealous but she she can kut up with it.

It's adorable, but it raises some suspicion. How could Naruto not have seen any of these things before? He lives in the mountain next to the city. He doesn't live with anyone but himself. There's so much about him that makes no sense about him and it worries her. Yet, when she's with him her worries melt away. She's confident that she will get her answers in due time.

Naruto stops moving and sniffs the air. Sakura wonders what he is smelling. "What is it?"

Naruto smacks his lips. "Ya'know, all this time I've been eating, but I haven't had a sip to drink yet. And there's tea over in that tent over there!"

Sakura realizes that he is right. They should probably get something to drink. The two walk to the tent to see a man wearing a mask preparing okayu. Sakura turns to Naruto to see that he is looking at the man seriously and quizzically. He almost looks like he's trying to remember who the man is. He shakes his head.

The man stops stirring the large pot and comes over to serve the couple. "Well, hello! What would you like?"

Sakura looks at the menu. "I'll just have a... sweet iced tea." She turns to Naruto. "What are you having?"

Naruto is snapped out of his thinking process. "Wha-? Oh, I err... with take the hot tea please." Sakura tries her best to ignore Naruto's reaction to the man serving them tea.

The man pours hot tea into one of the styrofoam cups. Into the other cup, he takes and pours tea that has already cooled down and pours it into the other cup then adds sugar and ice. He serves them their teas and gives them each straws. Sakura reaches into her pocket for money. "How much would that be?"

The man has a mask on but his eyes show that he is smiling softly. "You two are my first customers. They are free."

Sakura is thoroughly surprised. "Why, thanks!"

Naruto and Sakura take their drinks and walk from the tent and reenter the crowd. They find a nearby bench to sit after walking around for about two hours. They sit down next to each other holding their drinks. Sakura looks up at the bright, moon lit, star sprinkled sky. She takes the straw out of its paper casing and slips it into her cup and takes a sip. She sighs to show her refreshment.

She looks to Naruto to see him blowing at his tea. He inhales the aroma and his eyes widen and he looks into his cup as if he is reluctant to drink. Sakura is worried about Naruto and her face shows it. "It's just tea. What's wrong with it?"

Naruto takes another smell. "I don't know. It's just got something in it that I'm not familiar with."

Sakura's worry washes away. "Oh, it's probably just because it's his recipe and not yours. Come on, your drink's getting cold."

Naruto just looks at his drink and, without another word, he drinks his tea in one go. She feels a bit more relieved and she takes another sip of her tea.

Next to her, she starts to hear coughing and wheezing. Her worry rushes back with more intensity and she looks to Naruto. She sees Naruto's face get red and his eyes are bloodshot. He is coughing and wheezing profusely. "Are you okay, Naru-kun?" She places a hand on his back. Naruto starts breathing heavily. He gets out of his seat and takes off.

Sakura is taken aback at what just happened. She leaves her drink behind and takes off after him. She doesn't know what's wrong, but she wants to be there for him if something is wrong.

_...::::_

Naruto runs into the woods. He finds a bunch of shrubs to hide behind. He gets on his knees and tries to look at his hands.

Everything around him looks blurry. His sense of smell is burning. He can feel his grip on his human form loosening and his fur is sprouting out. He tries to regain his composure, but it is of no use.

He hears Sakura's voice from behind the bushes. "Naru-kun? Get out of the bushes. If there's something wrong I want to help."

Naruto worries that she will see him not human. "No! Sakura-chan, please stay out of the bush! I don't want you to see me like this."

Sakura stops and she sits on the other side of the bushes. Naruto's grip on his human form is severed and he turns back into a fox. He's only thankful that Sakura can't see him. He lays down to conserve his energy. He's panting and his energy is being drained from him. He's never felt like this before, but he doesn't want to give up.

He senses two dog demons fast approaching. He gets desperate. He knows that he's not going to see Sakura again for the rest of the night. "Sakura-chan?" he forces himself to say.

"Yes, Naru-kun?"

Naruto has tears coming out of his eyes. "Do you remember the night that we became a couple?"

"Y-yes, I do. I remember it like it was yesterday."

Naruto is touched. "When I said that I am happy to say that you are my first. I want you to know that I meant every word of it. From the bottom of my heart." He can sense the dogs still running to retrieve his incapacitated body.

"Na-Naruto-kun, why are you saying this?"

Naruto's energy is almost no more. With his last bit of energy he says a few more. "If you knew what I am, would you still love me?" he says before he passes out.

**So I haven't updated this in a while. 对不起! 对不起! But apologies aside, I've encountered a bump in the story. I originally wanted to make this story following the line of the 白蛇传 fairy tale. However, the ending of 白蛇传 had the demon trapped in a pagoda where she (yes, the demon was a woman) was forever separated from her lover. My question to all who read my story, would you prefer for me to stick to the storyline of**** 白蛇传 or would you want Naruto and Sakura to stay together? Please don't be afraid to review or PM me of your choice. I'd really appreciate the feedback and I'd appreciate a lot of it. I need it. Remember to be honest. -Noshi **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter ten! I've been drawing and studying quite a bit lately. I can't put the most of my effort into writing as I'd like to to. I just find tidbits of time every now and then to write. So this chapter may be less than desirable in length.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. The characters and storyline both belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

Naruto can't even feel his own head. His vision is so blurry that he can't tell the difference between the dry dirt to his red-orange forelimb. He turns his head to look where he thinks is up. He shifts his head around to look around the best he can with his distorted vision. His body is still slightly numb.

He musters up as much strength as he could and tries to lift her head up to scan his surroundings. His vision is returning rapidly as he starts to worry. The pounding in his chest speeds up. His head shifts to the left and to the right and to a clearer sense of where he is. Tree, trees everywhere.

"Glad to see you've decided to join the living," a calm and familiar voice sounds behind him. Naruto is scared, but he turns his head around to see who's voice it is. His vision clears slightly and readjusts to see a small fire.

He plants his two front paws firmly onto the ground and lifts himself up to see over the fire. His vision clears some as his tiredness goes away. He sees light gray fur. Familiar gray fur. The blurriness fades into clarity and numbness is replaced with some vigor as he realizes who it is. "Kakashi... -sensei?"

The silver haired dog is sitting calmly in front of the fire and was waiting for Naruto to wake up. Kakashi smiles softly. "Glad to know you still remember me. How's it going?"

Naruto is ecstatic to meet his former sensei. But, a thought returns to his head. "Where am I? Do you know how I got here? Did you help me?"

Kakashi's smile returns to his calm expression. "Unfortunately, I'm not the one who helped you. I'm actually the reason why you're here."

Naruto raises a brow. "What? What do you mean? All I remember is the feeling of almost being dead and then I woke up."

Kakashi swipes his tail that sends a plastic bag over to Naruto. "This should explain the feeling you were experiencing."

Naruto stands and stiffs at the plastic bag. He digs his snout to the open end of the bag to get a better smell. He winces and flinches back at the sharp stinking scent. "Ahh, that smell! That's what almost killed me?!"

Kakashi stands to take the bag back and goes to sit back down at his spot. "Don't worry. These peppers can't kill you. But, I _did_ know what the effects are if _you_ were to eat them. That's why I wasn't afraid to let you consume it."

Naruto furrows his brows. "That's some sick joke." He gets slightly angry. His minds springs the memory of Sakura and he springs to his feet. His eyes are wide open extremely alert as his worry grows. "Sakura-chan! I have to go back!" He start to run in the opposite direction of his former sensei. He runs for two meters and an incredible force on front of him sends him back and stops him. He tries to make another attempt to run just to have his body sent back twice as far and lands next to the fire. He slumps to the ground and he picks himself back up. His lungs gulp the air. "What is this?" he says in frustration.

Kakashi hits his paw on the dirt to get Naruto's attention. Naruto turns his head to face Kakashi with eyes that plead for answers. Kakashi lifts his paw up to reveal a paper talisman. "This is why you can't escape."

Naruto is on the verge of tears. He desperately needs to get back to Sakura. "What is that thing supposed to do?"

Kakashi pushes the paw that he lifted up and presses it against the seemingly invisible force that is trapping them. "It's a sealing talisman. I was sent to keep you until you are ready to be retrieved."

Naruto is struck by the feeling of betrayal. "By who?!"

Kakashi crumples the paper talisman and throws it into the fire. He then points above Naruto. Naruto can feel a powerful presence among them. "By me."

Naruto turns around to see the upper body of a large familiar fox. He very shakily moves his head up to confirm who he is looking at. His blue eyes make contact with red vermilion irises. "Kurama...-oji...-san?"

Kurama picks Naruto by the gruff of his neck with his hands. "I appreciate you're subordination, Kakashi." A large puff of smoke surrounds Kurama and Naruto. The smoke is so thick that Naruto can't see anything in front of him. Kakashi, the fire, the trees are all being clouded by the smoke.

The smoke dances in the air as it floats up into the air. Naruto can begin to see where he is. The trees are nowhere to be seen, a wooden floor is in place of where the dirt used to be.

Kurama lays Naruto down gently onto the smooth wooden floor. Naruto gets back onto his feet to get a look around. The room is huge! He looks up at the ceiling. The room is so big, the room seems to bend as he looks farther.

Suddenly, he is very startled by the smack of what sounds like a gavel. "Kit, turn around to face us," Kurama's voice bellows.

Naruto grows timid as he turns his head around. Behind him, all of the elder demons sit awaiting Naruto. Naruto's head moves into his shoulders to try and hide. The elders' enormous statures are intimidating.

One of the elders, looks like an ox with the upper body of a well built man but has tenacles instead of legs, leans forward to say something to Naruto. "Boy, have you any idea why you are here?"

Naruto's head is too filled with fear to make any coherent thoughts. All that escapes his mouth are rambling whimpers. The large, green kabutomushi takes notice to Naruto's emotions and turns to the ox. "You see that, Gyuki? You've scared him!" The enormous beetle turns to Naruto next. "Sorry if he scared you. Let me introduce us. We are the... "

Naruto immediately remembers his manners. He puts his paws in front of his body and puts his head down to bow before the elders. Naruto hears a sigh coming from Kurama. "Rise, kit. We just need a word with you," Kurama says with his usual calm yet powerful voice.

Naruto sits up and looks up to the elders. "A word? What would you need to know from me?"

The ox, Gyuki, leans forward. "It's not what we need to know _from_ you. It is what's _about_ you that we need." Gyuki gestures his hand to avert Naruto's attention to the huge blue, fiery, bakeneko elder. The bakeneko reveals a bright, almost transparent, crystal ball. "Look into the ball," Gyuki orders.

Naruto does as he is told and looks into the crystal ball. His eyes widen at what he sees. He sees images of the people in the city, the park, the boys from around the tree,... Sakura... and him.

The bakeneko moves the ball to turn his attention from it. It then sighs and looks to Naruto. "Do you realize why we brought you here now?"

Naruto's legs are trembling. He can't believe that the elders have known all this time. He never knew that the elders had such a thing at their disposal that could allow them to eavesdrop on everything he has done. His eyes well up.

He closes his eyes to let a couple tears drop to the floor. His mind races. What is going to happen to him? What will the elders do to him? ... Will he ever see Sakura again?

His brows lower at the thought of not being able to be with his love. His eyes open to reveal his glowing crimson eyes. He stands up and lets the tears flow down his furry face. He bares his teeth to show his canines. "I understand. But answer me this! Why is it such a bad thing to love someone?"

Naruto scans the elders waiting for an answer. Naruto notices Kurama lifting his head up. The old fox sighs. "That... is a question that even _we_ have been denied an answer to. But, heaven has its laws and there is absolutely no way around it."

Naruto's eyes return to its usual shade of blue and he calms down. He takes a paw and wipes away some of the tears. "Heaven doesn't have to know! I want to and I WILL live in the human world. I am in control of my own destiny! My love for Sakura-chan is greater than anything that heaven and the elder council can do to me." Naruto turns around and runs away from the elders as fast as his legs can carry him. _  
_

He stops to look around for an exit. There is no door or opening of any sort anywhere he looks. He turns back around to see that he has not moved from his exact spot and the elders are still where they sit. Kurama looks to Naruto. "No one may leave this room by any normal means. It is a special room that you can only leave with our consent."

Fear instills itself into Naruto's thoughts. He has no choice. He must take the punishment. His eyes wander around the floor and then he raises him head to look at Kurama. "What is going to happen to me?"

Gyuki materializes a scroll from thin air and unrolls it out in front of himself so he can read it. "Naruto, kitsune of Akuma no Yama, by law of heaven, you are for now on banished from the world of which the human race resides. As an extension, any interaction with any human or anything from the huma world is strictly forbidden." He rolls the scroll up and tosses it up in the air where it disappears in smoke. "I'm very sorry, Naruto. Us elders have been disputing with the council of heaven for longer than you've lived. We want to let demons and humans love in a world together. But, ever since that _one _incident, there is almost no hope of letting that happen." He looks to Kurama. "Do you care to explain to the youngster of what happened?"

Kurama shoots a death glance. "This is not the proper time or place for such a thing! I will tell the kit on my own time." Kurama is as stern as ever. He looks towards no one.

Naruto has seen Kurama be protective, but this side of him he has never seen before. Kurama looks like he is hiding something. Now Naruto has to find out. But as Kurama said, it is not the time or place for Naruto to be the one questioning.

Kurama gets up from his seat and walks to Naruto. "I will take you to where you must go." he then turns to the other elders. "I believe that the rest of you have other business to attend to." Kurama then grabs Naruto by the gruff of his neck.

Naruto looks up to the old fox. "Kurama-oji-san, where would this place be?"

The older fox stays relaxed. "Somewhere private so we may speak." Not another word is spoken once the smoke is lifted into the air to transport the foxes.

Naruto holds in his breath and closes his eyes shut. He keeps his eyes shut too scared to dare to find out where Kurama has taken him. His nose twitches. He sniffs the air. Another demon has been here. A very powerful demon. He reluctantly opens his eyes to take in the majestic sight of what he is inside of. Judging by the paintings of Buddha on the walls, it is some sort of religious building. But on one wall, there is a large painting of a man and next to it to its right there is a large painting of a beautiful woman.

The sense of a powerful demon is still present even though the building is empty from the edifice. Kurama sets Naruto down on the floor. Naruto takes a step as he looks around for the source of the subtle feeling. Nothing. The whole place is empty.

"You can feel it, can't you?" Kurama's voice echos in the building.

Naruto looks to Kurama. "What... is this place?"

Kurama sits down. "We are in the Lei Feng Pagoda in China. This place has more historical significance than any other place in the world. And the reason why..." Kurama points to the paintings on the wall of the man and woman. Naruto looks to them again listening for Kurama's explanation. "The man on the left's name is Xu Xian. A human. The woman on the right, however,... she is the White Snake demon."

White Snake demon? Is that what he is sensing? Kurama puts his paws together in a prayer-like fashion and bows to the paintings. Naruto follows suit and he bows as well. Naruto is genuinely listening to see if there is anything else that should be said. Kurama's face is different. He seems troubled but at the same time humbled. He then sighs. "The White Snake demon and Xu Xian fell in love and heaven didn't allow it. They separated them by force and sealed the White Snake in this pagoda for the rest of her eternal life. All because she loved a human. Her immortal body and soul will never die. Only sealed away forever." Kurama looks down. Naruto can see that he has a secret. Kurama looks up with am emotionless expression. "But, when heaven punished the White Snake, they chose to punish her and only her. That wasn't the case... with me."

Naruto feels concerned. He must know what happened to his godfather. "You got punished by heaven?" Naruto can't believe that a member of the elder council would commit a crime against heaven.

Kurama puts a paw on Naruto's shoulder. "If I tell you my story, will you promise to forgive me for it?"

Naruto must hear him through. He has to know what Kurama has done that needs to be forgiven. Naruto just nods to let Kurama tell his story.

Kurama takes his paw back and lowers his eyes. "It all started about eleven-hundred years ago..."

(To be continued)

**This is a short chapter and I am sorry for that. But, exams are coming up and I'll get time to put the most effort into my writing afterwards. Also, please leave a review or PM me for how you'd like the story to end. Happy ending or tragic ending? Any vote will be appreciated. -Noshi. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Eleventh chapter. The more I write, the more I don't know when it will end. Speaking of ending, thanks to XWF1000's review, I'm going to write two endings to this story. One happy, one tragic. I won't say which one I'll be writing first though.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. The characters and storyline both belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

Kurama puts a paw on Naruto's shoulder. "If I tell you my story, will you promise to forgive me for it?"

Naruto must hear him through. He has to know what Kurama has done that needs to be forgiven. Naruto just nods to let Kurama tell his story.

Kurama takes his paw back and lowers his eyes. "It all started about eleven-hundred years ago..." He holds his hand out and a crystal ball materializes out of thin air. At this point, Naruto isn't surprised by anything. Kurama points into the ball to let Naruto peer into it. Naruto can see in the crystal ball a young Kurama leisurely walking around the fields of long grass in the breeze of the demon realm. "As you can see, I wasn't always this old," Kurama says jokingly. Naruto smiles at his adoptive parent's rare joke. "As a young kitsune, I've always been fascinated by the life of humans. Especially their culture and interaction with each other." The contents of the ball begin to swirl and the setting changes to a bonfire with many people, adults and children alike, gathered around the fire. The image seemed to put emphasis on one particular man that is sitting down on the dirt floor. He adorned a red yukata and had hair the same color and hue as Kurama. "I don't change my appearance very often and I don't like it when I have to,"Kurama says slightly embarrassed. Naruto couldn't believe it. The young man is Kurama! "Here I was, listening to this nice man's story. Back then, there were no laws that prohibited human and demon interaction as long as the demon was discrete."

Naruto almost feels troubled to ask. "What story was he telling?"

Kurama's brows furrow. "He was telling of his stories of his encounters with demons." Kurama relaxes himself. "He told tales of exploring in the forest at night and seeing creatures in the river. He mentioned that the 'beast' would've attacked him if he wasn't holing a torch. I want to so badly yell out that the so-called 'demon' he saw was nothing more than a figment of his imagination. But, there was no need for that. No one believed him." He then touches the crystal ball to shift images as if time is fast forwarding. "But as time went on, other people started seeing 'mysterious creatures' by the same river. I couldn't help it. I wanted to see what they creature they spoke of. Until one night, I ventured out into the same forest the storyteller told of." The Kurama in the crystal ball sticks his ears up. "I just followed my ears to the river. I saw a dim yellow glow in the distance, moving. It was headed to the river as I was so I followed the glow."

Naruto is growing confused. "Where is this leading to?" he asked.

Kurama looks to the ball. "Once I got close enough, I could see that the glow was a lantern carried by someone. I didn't want to frighten the person so I just followed closer and closer." the sound of water trickling in a stream comes from the ball. "The other person and I make it to the river, but we ended upon opposite sides of the river. I looked across the river to see the carrier of the lantern is a woman. She had been just as curious as I was. She didn't notice me until I stepped on a twig which frightened her. That was the day we first met."

Naruto can sense the change in Kurama's voice. Kurama's lips form a faint smile. Naruto can see where this story is going. He looks closer and can see the woman in the ball. She had almond shaped eyes, smooth cheeks, small, yet full lips, and long black hair. She, in short, is beautiful. "Who was she?"

Kurama closes his eyes and rubs his eyelids with his fingers. It almost seems that he is holding back. He lets out a heavy sigh. "Her name was Hoshimi Momoko. She was from another village." As Kurama looks into the crystal ball, a smile makes its way on his lips. "She was so innocent and kind to everyone and everything around her. At first, we just met on occasion in the peace and quiet lulls of the streaming river in the forest. She liked to look at the fish as they swam up the river. Then one day, she took me to see her village." Naruto looks into the ball to see a large thriving village filled with happy children and smiling folk. "Everywhere we went, everyone said what a cute couple we were. It embarrassed me, but I couldn't lie to myself. I did like her." Time shifts once more. "As weeks past, I begin to realize that she was more than someone to like. I adored her. She welcomed me, a kitsune, into the world of humans. One day, I asked her if she could ever love me." Hoshimi in the ball pulls the young Kurama in for a hug. "That night, the prayers of my heart were answered."

Naruto is heartfelt by this. He never knew that his caretaker once had a history so similar to his own. But, this all happened before Naruto ever showed his face to the world. She must be long past away by now. Naruto avert his eyes from the ball to see Kurama who is no longer looking into the ball. He stares blankly out of the entrance of the pagoda. Naruto walks over to him and lays a paw on Kurama's forearm to coax him out of his trance. "Why have I never heard of her if she was so important to you? There's not even one record I've ever read in the demon history books about the White Snake demon or of you ever having a lover."

Kurama points to the crystal ball. Naruto looks toward it to see the image change. Hoshimi and Kurama are being forcefully separated from each other. "The men that separated us were servants to the elders at the time. At the time, the current kitsune elder was old and dying. I was to be next in line to take his place. On the night of the coronation, I wasn't present. I was with Hoshimi helping her tend to the house she lived in. The servants found us and prosecuted me for crimes against heaven." The young Kurama and Hoshimi reach their hands out for each other, but the distance only grew larger. Kurama transforms back into his fox form to escape their grasp. He dashes to Hoshimi and knocks the guard that held Hoshimi down to the ground. "She couldn't believe what she saw. But, I couldn't believe what she did next." Hoshimi pulls the fox Kurama in for a warm embrace. "She still accepted me even though I was not human." The other guards tore the two apart and Kurama is dragged back to the demon world. "That was the last day I ever saw my Hoshi." Kurama's eyes let out a single tear. "That night, I became the next elder in the council and all of the other elders agreed to keep the events of that night secret." Kurama slams fist against the floor. "Then heaven finalized that damned law!" He hangs his head in shame. "I'm half of the reason why Heaven won't let fellow humans and demons ever love each other. Because Heaven refuses to let human blood be 'tainted' by us demons."

Naruto begins to understand what Kurama is trying to say. "You asked me if I would forgive you." Kurama looks to him to hear what he is saying. "But, I want you to know that I don't blame you at all."

Kurama lays a paw on Naruto's shoulder. "Thank you, kit, for understanding." Kurama pulls Naruto in closer so he can speak quieter. "By code of law, I am supposed to have you put in a sealing trap for the next century." Naruto gets scared and sees a devious expression that only a fox can have. "But, I just can't bear to see my kit suffer. Now hold on tight." Naruto heeds Kurama's command and grips tightly at the larger fox's arm. And, in a puff of smoke, they teleport to another place. The smoke rises to let Naruto see where they are. They are in the forest in Akuma no Yama! The sun is out and the sky is a smooth hue of blue. He lets go of Kurama and walks on the ground. Kurama nudges for him to get moving. "Go, kit! Before it's too late!"

Naruto doesn't understand. Too late for what? He neverminds it and starts running. He gets some distance from Kurama and looks back to see empty wilderness. Kurama is gone. He cracks a smile. "Thank you, Oji-san," he says to himself. He takes off running again heading towards his shrine. He enters the shrine that still needs to be built and finds his city clothes in the closet. He reverts to his human form and puts on the clothes. He heads out of the shrine and finds Sasuke as a snake standing outside. "Where were you last night? I couldn't find you anywhere."

He doesn't know what, but he has to get to Sakura before _it_ is too late. "Sasuke, I have no time to explain! Please, I have to find Sakura-chan."

Sasuke tilts his head. "Who?"

Naruto couldn't believe it. Sasuke doesn't remember who he's taking about. He takes Sasuke's words for a grain of salt and sprints to the city leaving the serpent behind

He passes over the fence. He darts his way across the park where the festival ended the day before. The city is huge and engulfing. The feeling of being tiny and insignificant takes over him. He fears that he can't find Sakura anywhere. But, moping around won't help, he needs a place to start. A good place to start searching is at any place that they've been together. First place, the ramen shop known as Ichiraku. He follows memory and instinct to find it.

He walks to not look strange, but he keeps an eye out for anyone familiar. He makes it to the ramen shop and walks in calmly. He sees Ayame at the front. "Ayame-san, I have a question to ask of you."

Ayame looks to him with a surprised expression. "Oh, Naruto! You're here."

Naruto sets the greetings aside and gets straight to the point. "I need to find Sakura-chan. Do you know where she is?"

Ayame's eyebrows raise in surprise. "Well, you should check to see if she's home."

Naruto can already tell this is going to be a wild goose chase.

_...::::_

Kurama sits in front of a grave site. The tombstone reads 'Hoshimi Momoko'. He wants to be strong, but the overwhelming sadness that being in front of the burial site of his love causes a tear to stray away.

He wipes his lower eyelid and sits up straight and puts on a blank expression. "I know why you are here."

Matatabi appears from behind. "I know what you showed and told Naruto. I hope you know what you are doing. If Heaven finds out..."

The fox bares his teeth. "Forget Heaven! Damn Heaven even! 'Heaven' has made me suffer, has made my kit suffer! And how many countless other kind and innocent demons must suffer before change can occur?! If Heaven wants to punish me, they've already did,... a long time ago."

Matatabi sighs. "You may be my elder, but I can see that you are hurt." The bakeneko turns around. "I'll leave you to do as you wish, Kurama-sama." Matatabi's last words before disappearing into the wooded area once again.

Kurama faces towards the tombstone. He lifts his head up and peers into the afternoon sky and takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry, kit. It's already too late."

_...::::_

Naruto leaves the doorstep of Sakura's home. Sakura wasn't there, but her mother told him that she is at the park. Naruto weaves and snakes his way around the crowded city to get to his destination.

He makes his way to the park entrance and enters the park. He takes a look around into the vast expanse of trees with flower petals falling off of them and grassy fields with petals scattered about. He takes no time to enjoy any rest. He looks everywhere of the color of pink. But, everywhere he looks the kink petals are everywhere. He looks to his left and then to his right to find pink everywhere. His heart races faster as he realizes that he is wasting time.

His eyes catches a glimpse of pink hair. He turns his head to see for sure. For sure it is Sakura sitting on the very bench that they became lovers in.

He races to her. Once he is within arms reach of her, he wraps his arms around her. Sakura gasps in surprise. Naruto holds back his tears of joy. "Sakura-chan! Are you okay?"

Sakura puts her hand on Naruto's chest. Naruto feels it and eases his wrap around her and they separate from and look into each other's eyes. Sakura's face seems confused. "Do I know you?"

Naruto gasps at what he hears.

**Dun dun duuun! Well, this was a rather short chapter. I'm trying to diligently work on my summer homework, but I keep getting pulled back into drawing and writing. It's a drug I guess, hehe. Anyway, Sakura has forgotten Naruto! What has Heaven done to her? To be continued in the next chapter of 'If You Knew What I Am, Would You Still Love Me?'**


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